


A Future in the Past

by AnimeBookAddict



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Romance, Slow Build, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-18 03:57:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11866200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeBookAddict/pseuds/AnimeBookAddict
Summary: Going back in time as a result from a curse, what will Hermione do? Will she keep quiet and let everything happen like it is supposed to? Or was she destined to try and change the future? Was it coincidence or fate that she was sent back?ON HOLD





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I already posted on ffnet but I decided to also post it here. It was one of my first fics (my second to be precise) and the first few chapters haven't been proofread, so if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. The story is still going on so ... Please read and review.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All credit goes to the owner.

It happened during the fight beneath the Astronomy Tower, completely unexpected. Everyone was fighting, curses were flying everywhere, people were trying to defend themselves and sometimes a curse went astray.

It was when one of these astray curses connected with another dark curse that resulted in her being here. The two curses merged together and hit her square in her chest. The effect of the two curses combined resulted in her just standing there, unable to move, unable to do anything.

She saw the scene before her playing backwards, slowly at first and then faster and faster. She started to slowly disappear. The others, unfortunately, were too busy fighting to notice this. 

She started to feel dizzy, seeing everything played backwards so fast that she decided to close her eyes. When she thought she could open up her eyes once more, she didn’t know what to think.

She stood beneath the Astronomy Tower but there was no one else. There was no sign of the fight that was going on just moments ago and it was bright out instead of the darkness that had been looming over them. 

Trying not to panic, she thought of what she could do. She could search the castle for Harry and Ron, maybe they knew something. She could go look for a teacher and ask if they knew what had happened or she could go to the library and look for an answer by herself.

Deciding that she wouldn’t want to cause any panic by telling anyone of what had happened to her, she decided to do a little bit of research for herself first before involving others. So she set out to the library, a path she knew like the back of her hand.

Upon arriving in the library she immediately went to look through the rows of books she thought that could help her, when she realised that even she had no inkling of what had happened to her. Deciding that if she didn’t knew what the problem was, she also couldn’t look for a solution or explanation. Keeping this in mind, she decided to go look for Professor Dumbledore.

Backtracking out of the library, she made her way to the office of the Headmaster. It was when she turned a corner that she happened to stumble upon Harry. 

“Harry!” Hermione called after him. But instead of stopping and turning around, he just kept on walking.

“Harry!” she called again, running up to him. 

“Harry, wait up!”

But he just kept on walking, away from her. Finally reaching him, she touched his shoulder to get his attention.

“Harry, why didn’t you turn when I called you?”

The boy had turned around and was looking at her as if he just saw her for the first time in his life and didn’t know about who or what she was talking about.

“Sorry?” he said a little confused.

“Why were you ignoring me when I was calling you, Harry? I need to tell you something important but I wanted to talk about it with Dumbledore first. I was just on my way there, are you coming with me?” She started rambling.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” the boy asked, still a confused look on his face.

“Oh, ha ha, very funny Harry.”

“Who is this ‘Harry’ you keep talking about? My name is James.” The boy said.

“James?” Hermione asked.

“Yes.” The boy said.

It was then that Hermione looked at the boy, thoroughly. Though, she didn’t notice any real difference from the Harry she knew and the James she had just met. Until she looked into his eyes. Where Harry’s beautiful emerald green eyes should have been, were now hazel ones. 

It was in that moment that she knew that she had travelled back in time. She didn’t know how many years precisely or how it happened, she only knew that she had.

“Sorry.” She said, still with a shocked look of realisation on her face.

“I mistook you for somebody else. Please, excuse me.” She said and started walking away in a brisk pace. She didn’t stop until she stood in front of the gargoyle that lead to the office of Professor Dumbledore. 

She stood in front of the gargoyle and started to blur out all the passwords she could think of. Finally, after calling different sweets to its head, the gargoyle let her pass at the name of ‘lemon drop’. Stepping on the rotating stairs, she waited until she reached the door to his office.

Trying to calm her nerves, she knocked on the door and waited until she heard a voice say, “Come in.” She opened the door, stepped inside the office and after a small introduction, started to explain what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter also hasn't been proofread so if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Remember, English is my second language. Please read and review.

She entered the office, her nerves on end. Looking around, she saw different devices displayed on shelves and on his desk. Finally looking up, she saw Dumbledore sitting in his high chair behind his desk.

Dumbledore looked at the girl that just stepped inside of his office. He didn’t remember seeing her, so he studied her with a curious gleam in his eyes. When he noticed that she finally looked at him, he started to speak.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss…?” he asked in a calm voice.

“Uhm, Hermione, Sir. Hermione Granger.” Hermione answered, not really knowing if it was smart to say her real name or not.

“Miss Granger, how may I help you?”

She knew she couldn’t give away much information. If she did, she could alter the future. Or her present. Thinking quick, she thought that she had to tell him at least some things of what had happened in order to give him a chance to get her back home to her own time. That was, if he wanted to help her.

“It is kind of hard to explain, Sir. But first, can I ask what the date is?”

“The date? Well, today is 26 September 1976. Why, may I ask, do you need the date?”

“Well, you see Sir, this may sound a bit strange,” and here she faltered a bit, “but I am from the future.” Hermione said a little uncertain, not knowing if he would believe her. Looking at Dumbledore to see his reaction, she saw that his eyes widened just that little bit more but that he didn’t do anything else to show his surprise. He kept his calm demeanour and if it wasn’t for the eyes, she wouldn’t even have noticed anything at all.

“From the future?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir. To be more exact, I am from 1997.”

“And how is it, may I ask, that you came to be here?” 

“Well, you see, this is where it becomes difficult to explain. I don’t know how I got here. And I need your help but I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I understand that, if you really are from the future, you need to be careful with what you tell me, with what you tell anyone. But if you want my help, you need to tell me what happened. Not everything, I don’t need to know every little detail. But I do need to have an idea of what happened so that I may help you.” he said calmly.

Hermione was thinking of what she could tell him and what she needed to leave out. While she was thinking, Dumbledore looked at the girl. 

To him, it looked like she was telling the truth. Why would a girl like her lie about travelling back in time. On the other hand, you couldn’t be too careful now that the threat, known as lord Voldemort, was gaining more and more power.

“Okay,” She said, her voice a little shaky because of her nerves, “Okay.”

“Do you know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” she asked a little timidly.

“Unfortunately, I do. What has he to do with all of this?” 

“Well, in the future he is gaining power and it was during one of the battles against his death eaters that I was sent here.”

He was surprised to hear that 21 years in the future the evil they had to deal with now, was still in power then. The only signs of his surprise showing, were his eyes widening and the sparkle in them that left for a moment.

“He is still not defeated in 21 years from now?”

“Oh no, he will be defeated. But not permanently. In a few years, he will be defeated and he will stay away for several years. However, during the years that everybody thought he was defeated, he was slowly but surely gaining back his powers.” she said, making sure that she didn’t gave away details and names of persons involved.

Dumbledore, still keeping calm and not showing any surprise with his body, had a small bewildered look on his face.

“The fight that resulted in me being here, was one that took place two years after he came back with his full powers. We were fighting and two curses merged together and it was due to the merging of those two curses that I’m here now.” she said in a small voice.

Hoping that she had said enough for him to help her and little enough to not jeopardize the future, she watched him closely. After several more moments of silence, Dumbledore had made up his mind.

“If what you say is true –“

“It is, Sir!” she said a little frantically, interrupting him.

“Then I will do what I can to try and get you back to your time.”

“Thank you so much, Sir.” 

“But I’m afraid that you will be here for a while, seeing that we don’t know exactly which curses brought you here.” he said ever so calmly. But at this news, he saw her face fall and her shoulders slump a bit.

“Am I right to assume that you went to Hogwarts in your time?” he asked, seeing her Hogwarts uniform. 

“I did, Sir. I was a Gryffindor.”

“And what year were you in?”

“I was a sixth year, Sir.”

“If you have to stay here for a while, would you like to be a student at the Hogwarts of this time?”

“I would love to, I know the castle and it would make me feel a little more at ease. But, Sir, I don’t have any money and clothes. I couldn’t possibly stay here.”

“No need to worry, my child. I will look after everything.”

“But, Sir, I couldn’t possibly –“

“You can and you will.” he said in a soft but firm voice. “You’re from another time, it is dangerous for you out there. If someone would get their hands on you and knew what information you held about the future, it could turn out worse than it already is. Or will be. Here, I can keep an eye on you.”

Seeing that he was absolutely right, she choose not to resist anymore and nodded in agreement. And, like she said, it would make her a little less homesick, knowing that she was in a place she knew well, a place she had shared with her friends.

“Now that it is settled, we need to discuss what you will tell the other students. You see, the schoolyear started almost four weeks ago so it will get some attention that a student started later than the others.”

She agreed and they went on planning of what she would say to others when asked who she was, where she was from, who her family was, and so on. They decided that she could keep her name, seeing as she was muggleborn, it couldn’t do much harm. She went to Beauxbatons until her parents died. That’s when she decided to come back to England to live with some friends of the family, seeing that she had no other relatives. Dumbledore had said that he would contact some people, who were in the Order, to see whom she could go to in case of emergencies. Her books and clothing would be taken care of by Dumbledore himself, so all that remained was to see in which house she would be in. Seeing her uniform with the Gryffindor crest on it and the prefect badge, they decided to keep it simple and let her just stay in the house she was in in her time. 

“Now that everything is settled, I will send for a Gryffindor prefect to show you around.” he said the last part with a little glimmer in his eyes, knowing she knew the castle like any other student there.

“Unfortunately, we already have prefects. So I have to ask to hand in the badge, Miss Granger.”

Feeling a little sad that she had to distance herself from the only thing that she had with her from her time, she pulled the badge from her uniform and handed it to Dumbledore.

“Mr Dippet,” Dumbledore addressed one of his portraits, “Could you bring Miss Evans to my office please?”

After watching Mr Dippet disappear from his portrait, Dumbledore turned back to face Hermione.

“Miss Evans will be here shortly and she will give you a little tour around.”

A few minutes later, there was someone knocking on the door, asking for entrance. After stepping inside of the office, the redhead immediately saw the new student and give a small smile.

“Aahh, Miss Evans, thank you for coming. This is Hermione Granger and she will be attending Hogwarts from today.” Dumbledore said.

Looking at the door where the redhead stood, she gave a small smile. Lily, the ever so friendly person that she was, immediately stepped towards Hermione with her hand outstretched.

“I’m Lily, Lily Evans. Nice to meet you.” Lily said with a smile on her face.

“Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you too.” Hermione said. Her voice gave a little crack as she realized that she stood face to face with Lily Evans, the mother of her best friend. Fortunately for her, the crack in her voice went unnoticed by Lily. Although, she was pretty sure that Dumbledore had noticed.

“Miss Evans, I called you here to welcome Hermione and to give her a tour around the castle.”

“Of course, Sir.” 

“Well, Hermione, I hope you will feel right at home here. And if there’s anything, anything at all, my door is always open for those who need it.”

“Thank you, professor.” she said, not sure if there was a double meaning behind his words.

And with that she left the office together with Lily. Lily gave her a tour around the castle and sometimes Hermione would ask something or say how wonderful something was, though she knew everything already. 

During the tour, Lily would ask something and Hermione would answer. Though, she tried to say as little as possible.

“So Hermione, why start school now, if you don’t mind my asking? I mean, school started almost four weeks ago.”

“Well, I went to Beauxbatons but something happened and that’s why I came here.”

“Oh, what happened? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” she added the last part hurriedly.

“I’d prefer not to talk about it, actually, if you don’t mind.” Hermione replied in a small voice, looking down at her feet.

“Of course not, no problem. So, what year are you in?”

“I’m in sixth year.”

“Oh, me too. That means we’re in the same dorm room and we’ll have classes together.” Lily said happily. 

And with this kind of small talk the tour continued. Just before dinner, Lily showed Hermione the Gryffindor common room and the dorm that they shared together with two girls named Alice and Marlene.

“Dinner is about to start. Are you coming?” Lily asked.

“Actually, would you mind if I lay down for a moment and skip dinner? It was a very trying day.” Hermione said in a small voice.

“Oh, of course, I don’t mind at all. It’s understandable you’re tired after a day like today.” she said and then there was a little pause.

“So, you just rest and if there’s anything or you decide you’re hungry, just come to the Great Hall.” Lily said with a smile.

“I’ll be going now. See you later.” Lily said, before waving and leaving their room.

“See you later.” Hermione called after her but Lily was already out the door and walking down the stairs.

After a few moments, when Hermione was absolutely sure that she was alone, she laid down on her bed. She let it all sink in, all what happened today, from the fight beneath the astronomy tower to the time travelling to meeting the dead parents of her best friend, who was now in a different time than her. 

She closed the curtains around her four-poster bed, turned onto her side, buried her face in her pillow and started to cry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some trouble with the dialogue but I think it turned out alright. Again, if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.

Lily left their dorm and while she was walking down the stairs she heard a small “See you later,” as a reply. Leaving Gryffindor Tower, she made her way towards the Great Hall. Upon arriving there, she immediately saw her friends, Alice and Marlene. Unfortunately for Lily, they were sitting near the Marauders. 

“Hey, Alice, Marlene.”

“Hey, Lily.” they responded simultaneously.

“Hello, my dear Lily-flower.” James said with much exaggeration while Lily was taking her seat, “How are you this wonderful evening?”

His question, however, remained unanswered as Lily ignored him so as to speak to Alice and Marlene.

It was when James was complaining to his friends about ‘being ignored by the love of his life’ that Dumbledore took the stage and everyone went silent.

“Good evening everyone. I have an announcement to make.” The elderly man said aloud in his booming voice, commanding the attention of everyone around.

Though, there were a few whispers here and there, most students remained silent, wanting to know what this announcement was about.

Though a few students continued whispering, Dumbledore raising his hand silenced said students immediately.

“I know you’re all hungry, so I will keep this short. Starting today, there will be a new student attending Hogwarts.” he announced.

After hearing this, the students started to look around trying to see who this new student was. But after a few minutes of looking around and not seeing a new face amongst the crowd, they gave up and instead started to talk amongst each other, speculating about the new student.

“I am sure you will make her feel welcome and at home. She is currently busy but you shall meet her soon enough. Now, let’s enjoy our meal, shall we?”

The talking amongst the students only rose in volume, everyone speculating and guessing about the new student. They knew it must be a girl because Dumbledore had said ‘her’, but that was all the information they got. So who was she? What did she look like? Why start school now?

Amongst the ones speculating were none other than the Marauders.

“Who is this girl?” James asked his friends.

“Doesn’t matter who she is as long she’s good to look at.” replied Sirius with a wink.

“Is that the only thing you think about?” Marlene asked Sirius, overhearing what he had said.

Thus so the girls’ conversation got mixed with that of the boys. Lily, wanting a conversation that did not include the Marauders, tried to answer some questions about the new girl when they were asked, so that she could cut the conversation short.

“But really, who is this girl?” James asked once again.

“Her name is Hermione Granger and she’s a sixth year.” answered Lily.

Everyone looked at her with surprise.

“How do you know that?” Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Because I gave her a tour around the castle on Dumbledore’s orders.”

“Hermione. An unusual name.” Remus commented, “So, she is a sixth year. What house is she in?” he asked her.

Remus Lupin was the only one of the marauders that Lily didn’t dislike. On the contrary, he was one of her closest friends, so she answered him with a smile and not a snide remark, like she would often do with the others.

“She’s a Gryffindor. She’ll be staying in the same dorm as us.” she directed the last part to Alice and Marlene, who were looking more and more curious by the second.

“And why did she start school just now?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, why now and not when everyone else started?” James interjected.

“That I don’t know. She only said that before now she went to Beauxbatons but then something happened, so she transferred here. She didn’t tell me what happened, though.”

At this, everyone was still for a moment and just looked at each other, trying to think of a reason why someone would switch schools in the middle of the school year.

It was Sirius that broke the silence that had fallen amongst the group.

“Okay, time to go!” he said, jumping up from his seat.

“Go where?” Peter asked.

“To the common room, where else?” Sirius said like it was the most obvious thing ever.

“And why would we go to the common room?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. He had an inkling of what his friend was up to but he wanted to know for sure.

“Because Moony,” Sirius said, using Remus’ nickname, “We finished dinner and we need to introduce ourselves to the new student. She’s probably finished with whatever she was doing and heard all about us already. She’ll probably be waiting for us.” 

Sirius had a smirk on his face while he said this. It was exceedingly obvious what Sirius’ real intentions were. Not willing to ignore their friend, however, the marauders got up and left. Lily, who didn’t trust them one bit, also left the Great Hall to go to Gryffindor Tower to keep her eye on them.

Giving the password to the Fat Lady, which was ‘Fairy Lights’, they entered the Gryffindor common room. Looking around, they noticed that the room was completely empty. Disappointed, the Marauders turned to Lily as if asking whether she knew where the new girl was. 

“What?” she asked.

“What ‘what’? Do you know where she is, Evans?” asked Sirius.

She’s probably still in our dorm. When the tour was over, dinner was about to start. So I asked if she would like to come with me but she said she was tired and wanted to lay down for a bit. Maybe she’s fallen asleep.” Lily mumbled this last part.

“Oh man, now we have to wait ‘till tomorrow to see the new girl.” Sirius whined.

“Come on Pads, we’ll just have to wait like the rest to meet her.” James said to Sirius, using his nickname while giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah, come on, let’s go to our room. We still need to finish our essay for DADA.” Remus said.

“Bye Lily, see you tomorrow.” Remus said.

“See you tomorrow.” she replied with a smile.

“Sweet dreams, my Lily-flower. Dream of us and our family when we grow up!” James exaggerated.

“I thought you told me ‘sweet dreams’ and not ‘nightmares that will scar me for the rest of my life’.” Lily replied while already ascending the stairs to the girl’s rooms.

Looking dejected and a little hurt, James was dragged to the boy’s dorm by the other Marauders. Remus tried to comfort him, saying that everything would work out fine eventually, while Sirius and Peter were bursting with laughter, leaving them barely able to stand.

Once in their room, the Marauders didn’t do much of their homework, instead they speculated a little bit more about the new girl that they would probably meet the next morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter that hasn't been proofread, so if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review, let me know what you think.

When Hermione woke up the next day, she felt drained. Flashbacks rushed into her mind of her participation in a battle between the Order and Death Eaters, and her being hurled back to the past due to two curses merging together. 

She didn’t remember going to sleep. Looking at herself, she saw that she was still wearing her clothes from the day before so she assumed that she must have cried herself to sleep last night.

Opening the curtains of her four-poster bed, she saw a trunk at the end of her bed. Opening the trunk, she saw clothes, books, quills and so on. Dumbledore had given her everything she needed while she was here, just as he had promised. 

Grabbing some clothes and toiletries, she went into the bathroom to get ready. When she looked in the mirror, she could clearly see the signs of her crying the previous night. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks felt sticky from the salt of her tears that had dried during the night.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, she mentally prepared herself to get through the day. This, apparently, was a good idea because when she exited the bathroom she came face to face with three girls, all looking wide awake and a little curious.

Lily, of course, she knew but there were two other girls that she didn’t know.

It was Lily that broke the little staring contest and started to speak.

“Hermione, good morning. How are you? Did you sleep well?” Lily asked with a smile.

“Good morning. I slept fine.” Hermione replied with a small and unsure smile.

Then Hermione looked once again at the two girls that were staring at her. Seeing this, Lily went on and introduced everybody to each other.

“Hermione, this is Alice.” Lily said while pointing to the girl with blue eyes and brown hair. The girl smiled and waved. “And this is Marlene,” Lily stated while pointing to a blonde girl with brown eyes. Marlene, just like Alice, gave Hermione a smile and a wave in reply.

“Alice, Marlene, this is Hermione. Our new roommate.” she directed to her two friends with a smile on her face. 

“Hi.” Hermione said in a small voice in which you could hear that she was a little nervous.

“Hey.” the girls answered simultaneously. 

“So, Hermione, looking forward to attending Hogwarts?” Alice asked.

“Yes, though, I have to admit that I’m a little nervous.” Hermione replied.

“Don’t worry, everything will be just fine.” Marlene said with an encouraging smile.

“Thanks.” Hermione said.

She then went to her trunk to grab her bag. She would get her timetable at breakfast from Professor McGonagall so her bag was still empty as she didn’t know which books she would need that day. Then she turned to the girls and stated she was going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

“Would you like for one of us to come with you?” Lily asked.

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Hermione responded with a small smile, though her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Nobody noticed this, however, and before any of the girls could say anything more, Hermione had already left the room.

Upon arriving in the Great Hall, she saw that many students were already there and eating. She sat by herself at the end of the table, aware of the stares and whispers she was getting from the other students.

She only sat there for a solid ten minutes when her attention was drawn to the entrance of the Great Hall where she heard laughter. Looking at the entrance, she saw four boys walking in.

When she looked at them, she couldn’t help but think that they had something familiar to them, like she had seen them somewhere before. While she kept staring, one of the boys looked right back at her. Feeling like she did something wrong she looked away. The boy, on the other hand, nudged his friends in the sides, pointed at her and together they walked up to her.

Feeling the presence of others around her, Hermione looked up, looking right in the faces of the four boys who had walked in just a moment ago.

It was a boy with long black hair that was the first to say something.

“Hello, beautiful.” he said with a seductive smile while taking her hand and placing a kiss on it. “What’s your name? ‘Cause I can’t imagine that a girl as beautiful as you would wander around without an even more beautiful name. And I really want to know what I should call you, milady.” 

Hermione could only look and stare as if in shock.

It was a boy with black messy hair that pulled the boy with long black hair away from her, so she could have her hand back. He was also the one that made the introductions.

“Hi, don’t mind this weirdo too much. I’m James, James Potter.” he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. “The one who just tried to assault you is Sirius Black.” he said with a grin on his face while pointing to the boy with long black hair. 

Sirius, once again, took her hand and placed a kiss on it. “Nice to meet you, mademoiselle.”

“This,” James said pointing to a tall boy with light brown hair, “is Remus Lupin.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Remus said with a small calm smile on his face while shaking her hand.

“And this,” James went on while pointing to a boy with mousy brown hair and that was smaller than the previous three, “is Peter Pettigrew.”

“Hi.” Peter said in a small voice while hesitantly shaking her hand.

Hermione looked shocked, more than that, she looked like she had seen a ghost and the only thing she could do was stare at the four people that were standing before her. The reason: standing in front of her were the four marauders, all young and all alive.

She looked at James. He was a carbon copy of Harry or better said, Harry was a carbon copy of James. Everything was the same, the height, the messy hair, he even wore glasses, though James’ were squared and not round like Harry’s. The only difference were the eyes. Where Harry had bright emerald green eyes, James had hazel ones. Of course, James didn’t have the lightning bolt scar.

Moving on from James, Hermione looked at Remus. He wasn’t that different from the Remus in her own time. Though, this Remus was definitely younger and had less scars, you could see that he already had been through a lot. Though, he had the same friendly face and the same calm voice. Also, his clothes weren’t as loose and patched as in her time and his green eyes held a sparkle which he had lost when she met him in her time.

From Remus, she moved on to look at Peter. This boy looked nothing like the man she met in her time. He looked almost sweet, nothing like the old-looking, balding, nervous rat that he would become in the future. Looking at him made her feel conflicted: she wanted to hurt him for what he did but seeing how he was now and that, in this timeline, he hadn’t done anything yet, she didn’t know what to do or how to react.

Lastly, she looked at Sirius. He looked so young and so lively, so different from the man she knew in her time. He looked like he hadn’t a care in the world: a smile on his face, his grey eyes sparkling. In her time he looked entirely different, probably because in her time he had lost his friends and spent thirteen years in Azkaban. What shocked her the most, however, was the fact that he was alive. In her time he had died and had been dead for a year. Knowing that he had died and seeing him now, she wanted to burst out in tears, not only for herself or Sirius but also for Harry. 

The boys just looked at Hermione while she was staring at them. James and Sirius had a smile on their face as if proud to see that they made her speechless. Remus and Peter watched her with curiosity, wondering what she was thinking about.

Coming out of her trance-like state, Hermione introduced herself to the boys.

“I’m Hermione, Hermione Granger.” she said.

“Ah, so you’re the new girl.” James stated with a wide smile on his face.

“Yes, that’s me.” Hermione said in a small voice while looking away from the boys.

“Are you looking forward to attending Hogwarts?” Remus asked. It was the exact same question Alice had asked her only moments ago in their room.

“Yes, though I’m a little nervous.”

“Do you look forward to the lessons?” 

“I do, though I still haven’t gotten my timetable.”

At this, Professor McGonagall came walking towards them.

“Here you go, Miss Granger. Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope I may expect great things of you.” McGonagall said while handing Hermione her timetable.

Hermione looked at her timetable, as did the four marauders. All of them, except for Remus, were a little shocked about the amount of classes she was taking. The reason that Remus wasn’t shocked was because he was taking the same amount as her.

Hermione, still not used that she was sitting next to the marauders and now having her timetable, wanted to leave the table as soon as possible. She stood up from where she was sitting and grabbed her bag, not even having finished her breakfast.

“What are you doing?” Sirius asked, looking at her as if she had grown a second head.

“I’m going to class.” she said while walking away.

“But class doesn’t even start for another half an hour!” he yelled after her but he didn’t get any kind of response.

While Hermione walked out of the Great Hall in a semi-hurried pace, she passed Lily, who saw that Hermione had just walked away from the marauders. Seeing this, Lily made her way towards the marauders.

“What did you do?” she asked not too friendly.

“Good morning my Lily-flower. How are you this fine morning?” James greeted her as usual. And as usual, she didn’t answer.

“What did you do?” she asked once again.

“I don’t know. What have we done?” asked Sirius.

“What did you do to Hermione? Why was she fast walking away from here?”

“I don’t know but we didn’t do anything wrong, Evans.” Sirius said like he could care less.

“It’s true, Lily.” Remus interjected, seeing that Lily was about to explode. “We just introduced ourselves and after she had received her timetable from McGonagall she left.”

Looking at the boys for a moment, Lily let it slide and took a seat at the table a little further away from them. The boys, on their turn, looked at each other as if asking if one of them knew why Hermione had left so abruptly. Not able to think of a reason because of the fact that they didn’t know anything about her, only her name, they let it go and went back to eating their breakfast. 

When the marauders made it to Transfiguration, with no time to spare, they saw Hermione sitting by herself at the front of the class. When McGonagall gave them a stern look, they immediately went to take their usual places in the middle of the room. Professor McGonagall had made those seating arrangements specifically for them because she knew if they were to sit in the back they would do anything except pay attention. This way she could keep her eyes on them.

During class, the only thing James and Sirius did was watch Hermione, seeing as transfiguration was their best class and they didn’t found it necessary to put in a lot of effort. Remus and Peter, on the other hand, were paying attention to what McGonagall was saying.

Hermione was listening to McGonagall while taking notes, though she wasn’t unaware of the eyes that were boring holes through the back of her head. She decided to just ignore this and pay attention because next they would have to practice the spell of which they were now seeing the theory.

“Okay, everyone. Time to put the theory into practice. Try to transfigure your desk into a donkey and back again.” McGonagall said.

In just a few moments all students were trying to transfigure their desks, though very few succeeded on the first try. Among the only ones to succeed on the first try were, unsurprisingly, James and Sirius. What was surprising for the students and professor McGonagall, however, was that Hermione, too, succeeded on her first try. 

When Hermione had turned the donkey back into a desk, she looked up to see everyone staring at her with a surprised look on their face. Even James and Sirius were staring at her, thinking they were the only ones capable of doing this.

“Well done, Miss Granger. It’s not often that students succeed on their first try. Keep up the good work.” McGonagall said.

“Minnie, don’t we get a compliment? We also managed to do it on the first try.” Sirius asked with a smile on his face and a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"It is Professor McGonagall for you, Mr Black. And also, you two as good as always manage to do it on the first try. If I had to compliment you every time, your heads would be bigger than they are now and we wouldn’t want that now, would we?” she replied as stern as ever, though she had a small, almost unnoticeable smile on her face.

After hearing this, the smiles on James’ and Sirius’ faces only grew wider.

All the other students went back to trying to turn their desk into a donkey. After a few more tries, Lily, Remus and Alice also managed to do it. This is how it went until everyone, except for two or three students, had succeeded.

When class had ended, Hermione left as fast as she could. Walking outside of the classroom, however, she was greeted by the four marauders, people that she didn’t want to see right now. Seeing them that morning had been hard enough.

“So, Hermione, where did you learn to do that?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, normally it’s just me and Sirius who succeed on the first try.” James interjected.

“Sorry, but I have to go to my next class.” Hermione said and walked away, leaving the boys behind.

While Hermione walked to her next class, Arithmancy, as fast as she could without looking suspicious, the boys watched her go. They wondered why she had walked away from them without saying anything, for the second time that day.

This is how it went for the rest of the week. They would try to talk to her and she would give short replies and walk away. When she did something amazing or surprisingly in class and they wanted to ask her about it, she would say she had to go to her next class or that she needed something from the library and walk off. She didn’t just do it with them either. She also did it with Lily and the girls. In their dorm she would say little if anything or she would always leave the room before the others did and so on.

Hermione knew she was avoiding everyone but she didn’t know what else to do. She didn’t want to make a mistake. She didn’t want to risk people finding out where she was from. She didn’t want to get too comfortable in case she told someone something about the future, however insignificant it may be. She knew the rules of time travel and she wasn’t planning on breaking them. 

For now, she preferred to be alone. She would do her homework and she would research time travel in her spare time but she would do it alone as to not risk anything. She did this, hoping that the others, the marauders and the girls, would eventually give up on trying to talk and get to know her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on the chapters have been proofread, but still, if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

It had almost been five weeks since Hermione arrived in the past and nor she nor Dumbledore were any closer to bringing her back home to her own timeline. 

These past few weeks she had been to his office once to ask if he had discovered something, only to get a disappointing answer. Though, if she were honest with herself, she thought that she would get such an answer. Dumbledore may be a powerful man and may know many things but there was also a limit to what he could do and the timespan in which he could do it.

Her own research on finding a way home was also turning out to be a dead end. There weren’t many books about time travel in the library, then there was also schoolwork and not to mention, the marauders.

If she thought that by avoiding everyone they would leave her alone, she was mistaken. The marauders just would not leave her be and it was difficult enough to research something like time travel while avoiding questions without someone tailing you, let alone with someone watching your every move. 

The girls, too, still tried to talk to her from time to time but they were starting to get the hint. The marauders, on the other hand, didn’t get the hint or just chose to ignore it, especially James and Sirius. Why they didn’t want to leave her alone, she had no idea.

During these past few weeks, though she was trying to avoid everyone, she couldn’t help but watch discretely as to see how they interacted with everyone. She had to admit that she was curious about them.

The marauders were a lively and joking bunch just like Sirius and Remus had often told her in her time. They would prank anyone and, except for Lily, no one was safe, not even the teachers. 

Then there were the girls. Lily was kind, could get along with almost anyone and if someone needed help with anything she was always prepared to lend them a hand. Alice was just as nice but maybe a little less strict than Lily could be sometimes, especially when it involved the marauders and then there was Marlene. She was one of the beauties of the school and also wasn’t afraid to say what was on her mind.

Hermione could only conclude that these were amazing people and that their loss must have been, or will be heavy for everyone around them.

It was just a few more days until Halloween and you could tell. Everyone was excited about the Halloween feast and they would also get to go to Hogsmeade. They were especially excited to go to Hogsmeade. Some had to refill their stock of candy, or knowing the marauders, pranks and some were just happy for a day outside of the Hogwarts grounds.

Hermione, however, wasn’t one of those people. Since the accident with the troll in her first year and now attending school with Harry’s parents, who were murdered on Halloween, it hadn’t been a holiday that she liked to celebrate. 

And it weren’t just the students that were excited, some of the teachers, also, were in a festive mood, like the Professor of DADA. 

Professor Alexander Gray, the DADA Professor, had a little surprise for his students for Halloween. They were about to see their greatest fear as they were about to go up against a boggart.

“Okay everyone, since Halloween is around the corner I thought it fitting to have a lesson about boggarts. The reason: Halloween is about scary things and what is more scary than being faced with your own personal biggest fear?”

Of course, everyone already knew how to defeat a boggart, they had seen this in their third or fourth year, but not many of them knew if their boggart would still be the same as a few years ago. One of these students who doubted that their boggart was unchanged, was Hermione.

“Okay class, form a line. You know the drill, just step forward one by one. Those who succeed in taking down the boggart, just take a seat at the back of the room or stand on the side. Just make sure to remain outside the boggart’s range.” Professor Gray said.

One by one the students faced the boggart. The boggart took the form of many different things. Some people were scared of snakes or spiders, others were a little darker. Some were being called out by people they cared about or feared to be abandoned by the people closest to them and so on. Then it was Lily’s turn and Hermione couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as to see in what the boggart would turn into.

Lily took a step forward and waited for the boggart to change in her biggest fear. When he did, she stood there with a shocked look on her face as if she couldn’t believe that this indeed was what she feared most. In front of her stood a girl who was slightly older than they were, with blond hair and a long neck. When Hermione saw this person, she knew all too well who it was. It was Petunia. The only reason she knew this, was because of what Harry had told her and Ron about his uncle, aunt and nephew during all their years at Hogwarts and how badly they treated him.

The boggart was walking up to Lily, saying things like “Freak!” and “Just stay with the other freaks like you. We don’t want you home with us normal people. You don’t belong here with us.”

After a few moments, Lily regained her footing and saying “riddikulus”, she made an end to her torment caused by the boggart. She went to the back of the room and took a seat between Marlene and Alice to calm down for a moment, Alice and Marlene both putting a comforting arm around her.

Up next were the marauders and just as with Lily, Hermione felt a little nervous. Though, she also wanted to know what their boggarts were because they didn’t look scared of anything, judging by what she had seen during these past few weeks.

First was Peter. The boggart took the form of the other three marauders, all saying things like “You’re not one of the marauders anymore.” and “You just can’t keep up with us, we’re so much better than you’ll ever be.” Peter was shaking all over and it was understandable why. He was scared to lose his best friends, the people who meant the most to him. 

The three remaining marauders were standing behind him, saying that none of it was true and that it was lying. They tried to snap him out of it and after a few tries he must have heard them because, just like Lily, he braced himself, directed the spell at the boggart and watched it vanish.

After defeating the boggart, he turned around and looked at the other marauders, though he had a slightly nervous look on his face as he didn’t know how they would react. He had nothing to worry about, however, because they just smiled at him, laid a hand on his shoulder and told him that that was never going to happen.

“Wormtail, you know that’s never going to happen, right?” James asked with a reassuring smile on his face while giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“Yeah, if that was going to happen, we would’ve done so years ago.” Sirius joked.

Remus put a comforting hand on Peter’s back and gave him a small smile, knowing how he felt because he himself had felt like that a few years ago. Then he said, “If you guys didn’t leave me because of my problem, then there is no way that we would leave you.”

After Peter it was Remus’ turn. Hermione knew that his boggart was a full moon in her time but she wondered if it would be the same now.

Remus stepped forward and waited for the boggart to change. And now, just as in her time, his boggart changed into a full moon. Hermione could see all the confused glances that passed between the students because it was the same thing that had happened when she was in her third year and Professor Lupin had jumped in front of the boggart to protect Harry from it. The only faces that didn’t look confused were those of the marauders and, surprisingly, Lily. 

Remus straightened his back and had a hard look on his face while looking at the full moon the boggart had turned into. He said the spell and seeing that he defeated the boggart, turned around and took a seat next to Peter at the back of the room. When he saw how concerned his friends were looking, he gave them a small smile as if to say that everything was alright and that they didn’t have to worry about him.

Next up was Sirius. He stepped forward like he didn’t have a care in the world and that he could handle anything the boggart would throw at him. It took a few moment but when the boggart took the form of Sirius’ greatest fear, Hermione was surprised to see a carbon copy of Sirius in front of the class. Looking around to make sure that she wasn’t the only one seeing a double of Sirius, she saw that all three marauders looked very worried for their friend. When she looked back to Sirius and the boggart, the boggart started to talk.

“Look who we have here. The blood traitor of the family.” Sirius, as a surprise to Hermione, was nailed to the ground and was shaking slightly, his hands forming fists, “I’ll join him, you know, The Dark Lord, and bring honour to the family to make up for your mistake.” 

There was a small pause which was followed by, “You know, it’s actually your fault I have to join him because I’ll have to do what you couldn’t. You left your younger brother to fend for himself. You left me alone and now you will regret it.” The boggart said it with an evil smirk on his face and in such a calm way, though there was such a hatred and coldness behind the words that Hermione, and many others, got chills all over their body.

Hearing all this, Sirius’ look hardened. His eyes were empty, as if dead. The usual flicker of laughter absent and his mouth a firm, thin line. He hardened his hold on his wand and saying the spell, he sent the boggart flying. 

He turned around, passed by James, who was looking at his best friend with a worried look, and took a seat next to Remus, who wore the same expression as James. Hermione didn’t know what was going on but she too looked at Sirius with a worried, and questioning, look. Of course she knew a little about Sirius’ family but he didn’t tell her, or anyone else for that matter, much about his family for the simple reason that he hated them and didn’t want to talk about them. 

James didn’t have much time, however, to worry about his friend because it was his turn to face the boggart. Stepping forward, he looked at the boggart and waited to see what it would turn into.

When the boggart took his final form, all the colour left James’ face. In front of him were Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily. The scary part was that they were all laying on the floor, dead. James his wand hand was trembling but after a moment he snapped out of it and straightened his back. Then, with a voice stronger than Hermione thought possible for him to produce while he was looking down at his friends, he said the spell and watched as his biggest fear disappeared. 

Feeling relieved, James put his wand away and made his way towards the back to where his friends were sitting. 

Hermione was astonished. To have something so bad as your biggest fear and to handle it so well. She looked around to see the faces of the rest of the students, because this was quite possibly the worst of fears anyone had seen in this class. Most of them were looking at him with an amazed look, not believing he just overcame something like that. Then there was Lily, she was wearing a surprised look, as if not believing that James cared about her so much that he was afraid of her dying.

Hermione, however, hadn’t much time to look around because, finally, it was her turn. She was curious to what her greatest fear would be because she just knew that it would be different than the one she had in her third year, the one that showed her she was afraid to fail. She took a step forward and waited.

It took a few moments but finally it took a fixed form and when she saw what the boggart had turned into, her breath left her. In front of her stood Harry and Ron.

Hermione began to tremble as she saw her two best friends, now starting to realise what her biggest fear was. When they started to speak, her suspicions were confirmed. 

“Why did you leave us, Hermione?” Harry asked. “We were in the middle of a fight and you just left us to fend for ourselves.”

“What have we ever done to you to deserve this?” Ron interjected. “We could’ve died for all you know. Don’t you care about what happens to us?”

Hermione was now shaking violently, her voice shaking when saying, “I do care about you, a lot. I didn’t leave on purpose, please believe me.”

However, both Harry and Ron just kept throwing accusation after accusation. Finally, Hermione snapped herself out of it, braced herself and said the spell. After she had said “riddikulus”, she watched as her two best friends disappeared again.

She was still shaking while she was walking to the back to take a seat and calm down. While walking to the back of the room, she could hear the whispers of her fellow students, all asking about this fight that was mentioned, why James Potter was involved in her worst fear and who the ginger boy was. Hermione just ignored it all while taking a seat.

When she looked up, she saw that almost everyone was staring at her, including the marauders. They all had a questioning look on their face.

When the bell signalled the end of class, Hermione couldn’t leave fast enough, leaving everyone behind, again. 

When the marauders left the room, they saw her walking away on her own, like usual. Though, now they didn’t mind as much as they wanted to speak about what had just happened.

“So, what just happened back there? Who was the ginger guy?” James asked.

“More importantly, why were you involved in her biggest fear, mate?” Sirius asked James.

“How would I know. I don’t even know her. Nobody here does.”

“And what was that fight they were talking about?” Remus asked the group.

They were silent for a moment, thinking if they had read something in the Daily Prophet these past few weeks that mentioned a fight but they came up with nothing.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I want to know what all that was about.” Sirius told them.

“And how are you going to find out? She doesn’t want to talk to us or anyone else for that matter. She hardly even talks to Lily.” Remus said.

“Moony, just have some faith will you? I will think of something.” 

Remus gave an exasperated sigh and just let it be, knowing that if his friend got any ideas in his head you couldn’t talk him out of it. 

When the marauders entered the Gryffindor common room, they looked around to see if they could spot Hermione amongst the crowd. Unfortunately for them, Hermione was up in her room. Tears were trailing down her cheeks as she lay on her bed crying, with the curtains of her four-poster bed drawn close. 

She couldn’t believe that when she finally saw her two best friends again, they had said all those things. But then again, that’s probably why it was her biggest fear. 

Now that she had seen them, she couldn’t help but feel homesick and more alone than she had felt up until now. She realised that if she was going to be here for a while, she had to have someone she could turn to because she knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle it all on her own. She didn’t have to tell them anything, she just needed someone she could go to as a friend if needed.

Calming down, Hermione decided that she would stop avoiding everyone and that if someone approached her, she would make an effort and try to talk to them.

Little did she know that that chance was about to take place sooner than she had expected.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill. Please read and tell me what you think.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

It was Friday night, the day after the DADA class with the boggart, and Hermione was sitting in the library. Suddenly she was interrupted from reading her book by someone who took a seat opposite her. Looking up, she was surprised to see Lily Evans.

Lily looked a little nervous, as if she didn’t know what to say or do. She opened her mouth a few times only to close it again. It was Hermione who broke the silence.

“Lily?” she asked hesitantly in a whisper as to not risk the wrath of Madam Pince.

“Yeah?” Lily whispered back.

“Is something wrong?” Hermione asked a little unsure.

“Not necessarily wrong but…” she left her sentence unfinished.

“Lily, what is it?”

“Why don’t you talk to anyone? Did we do something wrong?” she blurted out.

Hermione was taken back. She didn’t know how to answer that. Of course they hadn’t done anything wrong but she could hardly tell her the reason why she had decided to avoid everyone.

“No, Lily, you didn’t do anything wrong. Nobody did.”

“But then why won’t you talk to us?”

“It’s difficult to explain. But I think the main point is because I was scared.” Hermione said while looking down at her hands.

“Scared?” Lily asked. “What for?”

“I don’t really know. A new place with new people. Scared to forget my friends at home. I guess a little of everything.”

“That’s no reason to be scared. The people here aren’t too bad, except, maybe the marauders. But befriending new people doesn’t mean that by that you’ll forget the friends that you already have.” Lily said in a soft voice while putting one of her hands on top of Hermione’s.

“I know that. It was all just a little too much and I guess that I didn’t think everything through properly, which is so unlike me.” she said the last bit with a small smile on her face.

“Are you still going to avoid everyone?” Lily asked a little worried.

“I’ll try not to.” Hermione replied with a smile.

“So, now that this is settled, would you like to come with us to Hogsmeade tomorrow?”

“Actually, I was planning on not going and staying in the castle for the day.” Hermione said in a small voice while looking down. Hearing this, Lily’s face fell a little.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but you see, I was planning on catching up on my reading while everyone was out. You know, it would be quiet because the last few weeks the marauders hardly left me alone.” Hermione said hurriedly as if afraid that she had offended or hurt her. “Also, I think it would be a bit much.”

Here Lily had a little questioning look on her face.

“Well, you know. From avoiding everyone to going to Hogsmeade with a whole group of people, people I hardly know.”

Hearing her explanation, Lily understood completely.

“Of course, I understand. I didn’t think that far ahead. Maybe you could come with us on the next trip?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

“I think I would like that, thank you.”

After this, the girls landed into easy conversation, talking about small, insignificant things: what they liked and disliked, how the people were at Hogwarts and so on. Finally, they decided to return to Gryffindor Tower.

Upon arriving in the Gryffindor common room, the girls took a seat at one of the small tables in one of the corners. They were talking about books, seeing that both girls liked to read.

“So what is your favourite book?” Lily asked.

Hermione thought about it for a moment before answering.

“It’s hard to pick just one. But if I had to choose, it would be ‘Pride and prejudice’.” 

Lily’s smile grew and her eyes widened a bit. “Really?” she said. “Mine too.”

This got the girls started about their favourite part of the story, what characters they liked and disliked and what it was about the plot that made it so interesting. 

They were so caught up in their conversation that they didn’t even notice the marauders entering the common room.

The marauders settled themselves on the two love seats before the fire. They started talking about what supplies, for both food and pranks, they needed to refill. They, especially, needed new prank material for Halloween. After having made their list of what they needed to buy in Hogsmeade, the marauders started talking.

Well, Remus, Peter and James were the ones talking. Sirius was a little quieter than usual and sat there, thinking about something.

“Okay, I’ve made up my mind.” Sirius said after some time, interrupting James.

“About what?” Remus asked.

“About the fact that I’m awesome.” Sirius said with a cocky look on his face while smiling. 

James laughed and said, “ Well, aren’t you modest?”

Sirius laughed but then said, “No, just kidding, though I am pretty awesome. What I meant was that I made up my mind about that new girl, Hermione.”

“What about her?” Peter asked.

“I’m going to make her talk to us and make sure she’ll stop avoiding us. And I’ll do so within the next week.”

Remus looked at his friend, wondering why he couldn’t just leave the girl be. Then he looked around the common room to see if he could see Hermione, because if she was here now, Sirius would set his plan in motion, immediately. Looking around, he finally found her. She was sitting at a table together with Lily and it seemed like they were in deep conversation.

He turned back to Sirius with a smirk gracing his face and said, “I’m afraid you’re too late, Padfoot.”

Sirius looked at him with a questioning look. The only answer he got, however, was Remus pointing his finger to the table where Hermione and Lily were sitting.

Following the direction in which Remus’ finger was pointing, Sirius got a slightly shocked look on his face. Seeing this, Peter and James also turned around to see what Sirius was looking at. They, too, didn’t believe what they saw.

At the table Remus had pointed to, was Hermione. And not by herself, like usual. She was sitting there with Lily and it looked like they were in deep conversation.

After looking for another few moments, the marauders turned back around.

“Did you guys just see what I saw?” James asked for confirmation. 

The other marauders nodded, all except for Remus, with a slightly surprised look on their face.

“What’s going on? What happened? Since when did she started to talk to people?” Sirius fired question after question to his friends in hopes of finding an answer, still slightly shocked that he wasn’t the one who had gotten her to talk.

They were silent for a few short moments, to let it all sink in. It was Remus who broke the silence.

“Maybe she just needed some time to adjust.” he said, always the reasonable one.

“Maybe, but five weeks is a little more than ‘some time’, don’t you think?” 

“Not all people adjust quickly to new situations, Padfoot. We’re not all like you and James who feel at ease almost everywhere you go.”

Sirius knew that Remus had a point and he also knew that this was his chance. Sirius stood up from where he was sitting. Seeing this, Remus had a feeling of what he was about to do but asked anyway, just for confirmation.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to pay them a visit.” he said with a smile on his face.

Remus’ suspicions were confirmed. 

After Sirius had stood up, the others followed. All four of them made their way to the table where the two girls were sitting. Both girls were still too caught up in their conversation to notice them.

“I like Mr Darcy.” Hermione said. “Well, not in the beginning because he is very arrogant. But I love how his character develops during the story. I also like how they fall in love gradually and not at first sight.”

“I completely understand what you mean.” Lily said. “I also like –“ 

She was interrupted, however, when the marauders reached their table. 

“Good evening, ladies.” Sirius said while taking a seat next to Hermione.

“Hello my dearest lily-flower. And hello to you too, Hermione.” 

“Potter. Black.” Lily said as stern and cold as ever. “Hi, Remus. Peter.” she said in a gentler way. Then she turned back to look at James and Sirius and asked, “What do you guys want?”

“Why should we want anything?” Sirius asked with fake innocence. “We just wanted to talk to you girls for a bit.” he said this last part while looking at Hermione.

Lily looked at Remus as if to ask why he didn’t stop them. Seeing her look, Remus said, “You know as well as I do that if they get any ideas, you can’t talk them out of it.” 

He, too, took a seat at the table just like the others had done.

“So, what were you ladies talking about?” Sirius asked.

“Books.” Lily replied.

“’Pride and prejudice’ to be precise.” Hermione said.

“And what did you think about the story?” Remus asked.

Hermione knew that Remus liked to read. She knew this from in her own time but she had to admit that she was slightly surprised for him to just join in in the conversation. Then again, in these past few weeks that she had seen him, he looked more confident and carefree than the Remus she had known in her timeline.

“Well, I was just explaining that I liked the development of Mr Darcy and how their love story unfolds gradually.” Hermione said.

“I like that too, because now you have a lot of books where the characters meet and it’s love at first sight. I think that that’s seldom something good in a story. I mean, you have moments or stories where it works but you don’t need to overdue it.”

“Exactly.” Hermione said enthusiastically.

The other three marauders, who seldom looked at a book twice, didn’t quite know what they meant. They just looked from the side-lines for a few moments as the conversation between Remus and the two girls grew more intense. They, however, grew tired of not being involved in the conversation.

“So, Hermione.” Sirius interrupted them. “How come that you have decided to honour us with your presence on this fine evening?”

“Yeah, normally you’re in the library or in your room. So, what gives?” James asked jokingly.

Seeing that Hermione was a little uncomfortable because of the questions, Lily slapped against James’ shoulder.

“Doesn’t matter why she’s sitting here, just be glad she is. I mean, if it wasn’t for Hermione sitting here, I would’ve left the moment I saw that you came to sit with me. Well, not if it was just you, Remus.” Lily said, looking at Remus with a smile on her face while saying the last part.

Hermione smiled gratefully at Lily. Lily just smiled back.

“So, lily-flower, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?” James asked.

“Stop calling me that and no. I’m already going with Marlene.”

“So if you hadn’t planned on going with Marlene, you would’ve said yes to coming with me?” he asked, looking hopeful.

“Of course not. Why would I say yes?” Lily said in a harsh matter-of-fact tone.

James’ face fell a little, though he hid it well and the girls didn’t see it. The marauders, however, knew better and saw the little change, though it was only for a second.

“What about you?” Sirius asked Hermione. “Are you coming with us?”

“Well, you see, I wasn’t planning on going.” Hermione admitted.

The marauders, except for Remus, looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

“What do you mean ‘not going’? It’s a day out of the castle.” Sirius said.

“Plus there are all these nice shops.” James interjected, both him and Sirius getting enthusiastic.

“I just don’t feel like going.” she said.

“Guys, let her be, alright? Imagine if you were her. It can be a little overwhelming going to a village with people you hardly know. Especially when you’re a new student.”

The guys thought about what Lily had said, which wasn’t much different to what Remus had told them only a few moments ago. They calmed down a little and let it be.

“Besides, she promised to go next time.” Lily said with a smile directed to Hermione, as if to say that she wouldn’t forget it and that there was no way out.

“That, I did.” Hermione said with a smile while looking at Lily.

It was getting late and Lily wanted to go to bed but she didn’t dare leave Hermione on her own with these guys.

“I’m going to bed. What about you?” she asked Hermione.

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty tired myself.” she said while getting up from her seat.

“But we just started talking!” Sirius called while the girls were walking towards the stairs that lead to the girls’ dormitories.

“There’s another chance for conversation, tomorrow.” Lily replied without even looking over her shoulder as she and Hermione were ascending the stairs. And then, they were out of sight.

The marauders remained in the common room.

“So what do you think?” Sirius asked them.

“Think about what?” Peter asked.

“About Hermione, of course.” 

“There isn’t much to think about her, really. We didn’t really get a chance to speak with her. Well, Remus spoke to her a little.” James said. 

At this everyone looked at Remus.

“What?” he asked.

“Well?” the other three said.

“Well, what?”

“What do you think about Hermione?” they asked him.

“There isn’t much to think yet, is there? I only spoke to her for like five minutes about a book.” he said.

“Yeah, but what do you make out of those five minutes?” James asked.

“Well, she obviously likes books. She’s smart, judging by what we talked about and her accomplishments in class. She reminds me of Lily in a way, judging by what I’ve seen and heard so far.” Remus said.

“Another Evans?” Sirius asked. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” he said sarcastically.

“You don’t know that yet. Maybe I’m wrong.” Remus said.

“You’re hardly ever wrong, Moony.” James said.

“If she’s a second Evans, maybe Prongs should take a chance on her. Seeing as Evans keeps rejecting you.” Sirius said, directing the last part towards James.

James laughed and said, “I won’t ever give up on Lily. Maybe Remus will take a liking to her and ask her out.” 

“Stop it you guys. You know why I can’t have a girlfriend.” he said, getting a serious and hard look on his face.

“You can and you will, eventually. You just have to find the right girl.” James said.

“You never know, maybe Padfoot here, will get a liking to her and go after her. Just like you chase Lily, Prongs.” Remus said, losing the hard look on his face and placing Sirius in the spotlight, getting a smile on his face instead.

“Me, falling for someone that reminds you of Evans?” he said while looking at them as if they were going mad. “You must be kidding me.”

From here on they started joking around. Saying things that involved Sirius liking Hermione or James finally getting Lily to go out with him. It went on for some time, until they finally decided to go to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill. Please read and let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

It was Saturday morning, the day of the Hogsmeade trip. Hermione was one of the few students who were already awake. The rest of the students had decided to sleep in before going to Hogsmeade. 

Though, she had decided to stay in the castle, she couldn’t help being awake. She was an early riser and she could do nothing about it. when she had woken up and saw the others still sleeping, she had decided to start early with her reading. So, as silent as she could, she had dressed herself, grabbed her book and made her way down to the common room.

She was sitting on one of the love seats before the fire, her back leaning against the side and her legs on the seat next to her. She had been reading for a good hour when someone greeted her.

“Good morning, Hermione.” Lily said with a smile on her face.

“Good morning.” Hermione said. “Ready to go to Hogsmeade?”

“I am, though Marlene is still getting ready. So, instead of waiting in our room, I decided to come down and wait here.” 

“I see.”

“I see that you already started catching up on your reading.” Lily said, pointing to the book Hermione was holding.

“Yeah, I was up early so I thought I’d make a head start.”

“Couldn’t you sleep? Was that why you’re up early?” Lily asked a little concerned.

“Oh no, I slept fine. I’m just an early riser, that’s all.”

You could see on Lily’s face that she was glad to hear that nothing was wrong. She was also glad that Hermione was, indeed, talking to her and wasn’t avoiding her. Just then, Marlene entered the common room.

“Hey Lily, ready to go?” she asked. Seeing the person to whom Lily was talking to, she said, “Oh, hey Hermione.”

“Hey.” Hermione replied.

“Okay, I’m coming.” Lily said to Marlene. Then she looked at Hermione and said, “Are you sure you aren’t coming?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Next time.” Hermione told her with a smile.

“Okay, next time.”

“Have fun.” Hermione said to both girls. The girls answered by giving her a wave of their hands just before leaving the common room.

Hermione went back to her reading, only to be interrupted some time later by the marauders. They were talking animatedly while descending the stairs from the boys’ dormitories and entering the common room, until they came to a stop and fell silent. 

They were standing behind the sofa she was sitting on, looking down at her. Seeing the marauders standing there from the corner of her eye, she lowered her book and turned to look at them.

“Is something wrong?” she asked them a little uncertain.

“No, nothing’s wrong. Just wondering why you’d prefer reading over a day spent in Hogsmeade.” Sirius said.

“I already explained that, and besides, I like reading.”

“Yeah, but still –“

“Never mind that, Padfoot.” James said, interrupting Sirius. Then he looked at Hermione and asked, “Have you seen Lily?”

“Yeah, she left not so long ago with Marlene.”

“Come on, maybe we can catch up to them.” he said while running to the portrait hole. Just before leaving the common room, he yelled a “Thanks!” to Hermione. The remaining marauders shared a look as if to say ‘he will never learn’ and turned to look back at Hermione. 

“Well, see you when we get back.” Sirius said.

“Have fun.” Hermione told them with a small smile on her face. When the portrait of the Fat Lady closed behind them, she went back to reading her book.

When she finished reading her book, Hermione noticed it was noon. Feeling hungry, she went to the Great Hall to have lunch. Arriving in the Great Hall felt different now that there were so little students in the castle. It was a lot calmer, but maybe that could just be because the marauders weren’t there. The only students who were still in the castle were first and second years and a few older students of each house, amongst them was Hermione. 

After eating lunch at an almost empty gryffindor table, Hermione went to the library to look for another book to read. After having browsed the shelves of books, until she finally found what she was looking for, Hermione checked out the book. Upon leaving the library she walked straight into someone. She stumbled a bit but didn’t fall, this in contrast to her book and the books of the person she had ran into.

“Watch where you’re going.” someone snapped.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t paying attention.” Hermione started to apologize while grabbing her book from the floor. Looking up, she saw no other than Severus Snape, her potions Professor, or future potions Professor. She was surprised, to say the least, but she still helped to gather his books.

After all the books were gathered, she handed him his books she had picked up.

“Again, sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Severus only looked at her like he looked at everybody else, with an impassive but slightly look of disgust on his face. Then he said something.

“Tell me, do all gryffindors think that they own the place?” he asked with such venom behind his words that Hermione was taken aback a little. The Snape she knew in her timeline as good as never raised his voice and because of his reputation he didn’t need to. Everything he said was said in a passive voice.

Hermione, still looking a little taken aback, didn’t know what to say or how to answer that question. Severus looked at her for a moment longer and then passed her, making his way to the library, the place she had just come from.

Making her way back to Gryffindor Tower, she thought about Snape and how he wasn’t that different from the Snape in the future. 

After entering the common room, Hermione took the same seat that she had taken that morning. And while she was thinking about Snape and other people from the future, the marauders were having fun in Hogsmeade.

The marauders were sitting at a table in the Three Broomsticks, each with a butterbeer. They had been to Zonko’s to refill their prank material. Then they had been to Honeydukes to stack up on sweets. Remus, especially, needed his bars of chocolate. And while James was harassing Lily and Sirius was looking at the scene with amusement, Remus and Peter had decided to make a quick shop at Tomes and Scrolls. Getting a little tired due to going from shop to shop and carrying all of their bags, they had decided to take a break and so had landed here, in the Three Broomsticks.

“Moony, Wormtail, you guys should’ve seen it. The way Evans just kept running from him while he chased her. You should’ve seen the look on her face.” Sirius was saying while laughing loudly.

“I think I can imagine what it looked like.” Remus said. At the same time Peter tried to imitate what he thought would have been Lily’s face, though it was fairly exaggerated. All of them, except James, burst out laughing.

“Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh. But I’ll say this: one day Lily will admit she has feelings for me.”

“Of course mate and she’ll admit that on the same day that Snivellus decides to become our friend.” Sirius said with a smile on his face.

Seeing that their glasses were empty, they ordered a new round. When Madam Rosmerta reached their table she said, “So, what will it be? Same thing?” 

“Four butterbeers, lovely lady.” Sirius said flirtingly.

The other three marauders rolled their eyes, seeing that he always tried to flirt with Rosmerta yet never really succeeded.

“Mister Black, how many time do I have to say this? You’re a charmer but it doesn’t work on me. Besides you’re still green behind the ears.” she said with a half smirk gracing her face but still remaining as lovely and friendly as ever. This was their game: Sirius would try and flirt with her and she would reject him and call him green, inexperienced, a charmer and so on. 

When she left to take care of their order, the table erupted into laughter, once again.

That’s how it went for the remaining time they were in the Three Broomsticks. After some time they decided to go stop by a few other shops. When they had returned to the castle and had made their way into the common room, they found Hermione in the exact same spot as that morning. They made their way towards her.

Hermione was so caught up in her reading that she didn’t even noticed that they had made their way towards her and were now standing beside her. Suddenly, someone had grabbed her legs from on the couch and put them down again. Only this time her legs were on someone’s lap and not the couch itself. Hermione looked up and saw Sirius sitting beside her, with her legs on his lap. Looking up, she also saw the other three marauders, sitting on the other couch.

Seeing that they were back and that they were looking at her, she closed her book and put it down.

“You’re back.” she said while she retracted her legs from Sirius’ lap, not really knowing what else to say.

“Indeed, and you’re still in the same spot as this morning.” Sirius replied with an amused smile on his face.

“Indeed.” She replied.

There was a small pause but Hermione decided to break it.

“How was your day?” she asked, not able to think of anything else.

Apparently this was the right question to ask because all four marauders started to recount what had happened that day. From the moment they left, to Lily running from James, to Sirius being rejected by Rosmerta. Of course, it was only natural that Hermione was laughing, hearing all this. It felt like it had been ages since she had laughed like that, it felt nice.

After some time, Hermione began to feel tired.

“I think I’m going to bed.” she said, still a smile on her face from laughing. “Goodnight.” She stood up and went to the stairs. Just before ascending the stairs, she heard a chorus of “Goodnights” from the four boys.

Once in her room, she saw her roommates, Lily, Alice and Marlene. 

‘Hi.” she said.

“Hey.” Came the reply of the three girls.

“How was your day?”

And just as with the boys, the girls started telling about what happened. Alice, especially, was happy because she had spent the day with Frank, her boyfriend. After hearing the stories, Hermione had to ask Lily something.

“Lily, is true that you ran away from James?”

“Of course I did.” 

“But really running? Like you were being chased?” she couldn’t hide the small smile that was creeping on her face.

“Of course, because I _was_ being chased. By him.”

Hermione just started laughing. 

“I wish I had seen that.”

“If you wanted to see it then you should have come with us.” Lily said in a teasing voice.

“Maybe next time he’ll do it again and then I can see it.”

Hearing this, Lily made a face of dread. 

“And what did you do all day?” 

“Reading.” was Hermione’s simple answer.

“Just reading? All day?” Marlene asked with a little scepticism. Marlene liked to read a book here and there but just like James and Sirius, she couldn’t see the fun in reading for a whole day. Or reading for a long time in general.

“Yeah. Oh, I went to the library and walked into someone. But besides that, I only read.”

“Who did you walk into? Like a first year?”

“No, not a first year. I walked into Severus Snape.” 

Hearing this, all the girls got strange look on their faces. Marlene and Alice quickly looked at Lily to see how she would react but Lily didn’t say anything for a moment. After a moment Lily spoke.

“Did he do something?” 

“No, he just wasn’t happy about me running into him.”

“Did he say something?”

“Not really, just that all gryffindors are the same.”

“Hermione, it’s best if you stay away from him.”

Knowing what they meant, she just nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Say Hermione, what were you talking about with the marauders? You seemed to have fun.”

“Oh, they were just telling me about their day in Hogsmeade.”

“So you already knew I ran because I was being chased.” Lily accused.

“Yes, I did. But I wanted to know for sure because I couldn’t tell if they were exaggerating.” Hermione said while she let out a soft laugh.

“They didn’t say or do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, did they?” Lily asked a little worried.

“No, they didn’t. They’re not so bad really.”

Saying that the marauders weren’t so bad, was something she regretted saying by the end of the next day. 

The next day it was Halloween and the marauders made sure that everyone knew it. They pulled one prank after the other, no one was safe. What was worse was that since it was a Sunday they had free reign for a whole day, not having classes and such. Though, Hermione doubted if that would’ve made any difference.

Like said before, no one was safe but somehow most students that were targeted were slytherins. Though, this also didn’t surprise Hermione very much. By the end of the Halloween feast, the marauders had succeeded in getting detention, to be carried out the very next day. 

After the feast, when everyone had gone to their common rooms, the atmosphere was still festive in the Gryffindor common room.

The marauders scared some third years with fake bats and the lights would ‘flicker’ and go out. Seeing the marauders play pranks on people, Hermione had to think of Fred and George and how alike they were to the marauders now. Though, she didn’t approve of everything they did, she couldn’t help but laugh at the silly pranks sometimes.

Remus, who was sitting on the couch besides her and who was a little calmer than the other three, saw her laughing.

“Entertained?” he asked with a smile.

Hermione turned to look at him.

“A little.” she said.

“I didn’t think you liked this kind of thing. You know, pranks.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, you kinda remind me of Lily and she doesn’t really like this kind of entertainment.”

“Well, actually, you’re right.”

Hearing this, Remus arched an eyebrow in question.

“I don’t really like these kind of pranks but today, you guys reminded me of someone. Two persons to be exact. Before I came here, I knew a set of twins, Fred and George, who would continually pull pranks. I didn’t always approve but it was fun to watch, sometimes. And seeing you guys today made me remember them. I, actually, kinda miss them.” she said with a fond smile on her face. 

“I see. So you’re used to some pranking, then?”

“You could say that. Though, some things they did were far worse than I have seen you guys do so far.”

“Is that a challenge?” Remus asked amused.

“Certainly not!” Hermione said a little panicked, afraid that she had set something in motion.

Remus started to laugh.

“Don’t worry. I was only joking.”

Feeling relieved, Hermione relaxed once again. 

“What’s so funny, Moony?” Sirius asked as he made his way towards them, followed by both James and Peter.

“Nothing.” Hermione said a little quickly.

Sirius and James both raised an eyebrow at her answer, not believing a word. Remus came to her rescue. 

“Hermione just told me that we remind her of a few friends of her with our pranks.” 

“Really?” Sirius asked.

“Yes. They used to prank people all the time. They’re even planning on opening a joke-shop.” she said, thinking about how Fred and George opened Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes in her time. Unfortunately, the shop didn’t exist now. How could it, the twins weren’t even born yet.

“Really? That’s awesome!” James and Sirius said full of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.” she had to admit. “I think I’m going to bed, it’s getting late. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” was the mutual answer she got from all four of them.

When Hermione was lying in her bed that night, she thought, once again, about everyone she left behind in her own time. Fred and George, Ginny, Luna, Neville, her parents, but most of all she thought about Harry and Ron and how she missed them. 

She made up her mind, somewhere in the next few weeks she would go to see Dumbledore again and ask if he had made any progress because she really couldn’t wait to go back home. Back to her own time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, all the chapters that I already posted on ffnet will now also be up-to-date. It may take a while before the next chapter is posted, though. Also, I had some trouble with writing so this chapter is not as long as the previous ones. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

A few weeks had passed and ever since Halloween Hermione had been easier to approach and talk to. She felt a little more at ease, especially around Lily. This could be because they had quite a few things in common with each other. 

However, even though she felt a little more at ease it didn’t mean that she had stopped going to the library as much as she could. 

Most of the time before or after class or during the weekends she could be found in her usual seat in the library with stacks of books in front of her. Some books she needed for doing her homework, others were used to look into time travelling as much as possible. However, there wasn’t much which she didn’t already know, seeing as she had done a fairly amount of research in her own time when she had gotten the time turner from McGonagall in her third year. The little time she didn’t spend in class or in the library was spent in the common room talking to Lily and, sometimes, the marauders, especially Remus. 

During these weeks she also went to talk to Dumbledore again about her being here and to see if he had found a way or had an idea about how to get her back to her own timeline. 

Unfortunately, he could not yet give her any answers or solutions. He himself still had to solve several problems to be able to find out what the two curses were that had sent her here. 

Hermione had felt disappointed hearing this but she could not blame Dumbledore for not having any answers. She was grateful that he even wanted to help her, seeing as he didn’t know her in this time. Technically she was a complete stranger to everyone and anything in this timeline. 

Aside from her meeting with Dumbledore, what also happened during these weeks was that Remus had been absent from class for a couple of days. When Hermione noticed he was absent she had asked the marauders what the matter was with him.

_The marauders walked into the classroom, just in the nick of time. However, Hermione saw that there was one person missing. That person was Remus. And though Hermione had a feeling why he wasn’t there she asked the others to be sure._

_She sitting in front and the marauders, that is to say James and Sirius, sitting behind her she turned around. Looking at them she could see that they looked very tired, only adding to her suspicion._

_“Hey, where is Remus?” she asked._

_“Good morning to you too, love.” Sirius said in a tired voice._

_“Good morning.” she said, having an idea of what went on last night. “So where is Remus? He’s going to be late.”_

_“He’s not coming to class today.” James answered._

_“Why not?” she asked. She had to ask. They would find it weird if she didn’t._

_“O, worried are we?” Sirius asked with a little teasing tone in his voice, getting back a little of his energy._

_“Of course I am. Remus isn’t a person who would miss class voluntarily. Did something happen?”_

_“Relax, Hermione. He’s just not feeling so well.” James said._

_“Yeah, Mione. Relax, he’ll probably be back in class by tomorrow.” Sirius said through a yawn._

_Hermione raised an eyebrow._

_“Did you just call me ‘Mione’?” she asked him._

_Sirius thought for a split second and then looked at her._

_“Apparently I did.” he said like it was nothing._

_“My name is Hermione.” Hermione told him._

_“Yeah I know. However, Mione suits you so maybe I’ll start calling you that from today.”_

_“Please don’t.” she said briskly._

_“We’ll see, Mione.” Sirius said with a small smirk on his lips._

_Hermione just turned around and waited for class to start._

After that, when Remus had come back to class, Hermione had asked him how he felt. He had told her he just felt a bit under the weather. She had left it at that knowing that in reality he had just undergone a transformation.

Except for her meeting with Dumbledore, Remus’ transformation and apparently getting a new nickname from Sirius, nothing special or interesting had really happened. 

The days and weeks flew by and now, with December approaching, everybody was getting excited. The reason: soon it would be Christmas. 

Hermione didn’t know how to feel about it, but she knew she wasn’t exactly excited about it. This time she would celebrate the holiday in a different timeline without her friends or family. Another matter was that she probably would stay in the castle, which was no problem seeing she had done that before. However, when she had stayed in the castle during Christmas she had had Ron and Harry with her. Now she would be staying here all by herself. Just thinking about it gave her a lonely feeling. However, it wasn’t Christmas yet and when that time came she would just have to push through it. For now, she tried not to think about it too much and pushed the matter to the back of her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 9, hope you like it. I just want to let you know that the first 8 chapters were posted quickly after each other because that were the chapters that were already finished. However, the updates will be slow from now on, mostly because I write the story as I go so sometimes it gets a little difficult but also because I'm busy with other projects. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and leave a comment.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

The closer Christmas came, the more excited the students became. They were looking forward to going home and spending some time with their family. And before the holidays they still had a visit planned to Hogsmeade, which was for many a last chance to buy gifts and enjoy the picturesque village covered in snow. 

And this time Hermione would also go visit Hogsmeade with the others. How could she not when Lily did nothing but keep reminding her of her promise. However, Hermione had to admit that she was indeed looking forward to it. 

Finally, the day of the Hogsmeade visit was here and Lily hadn’t taken her eyes of Hermione all morning until they were a good way on their way to the village. This made Hermione laugh internally because it reminded her a little of what Ginny would have done. 

“So, what do you want to do first?” Lily asked as they set foot in the village.

“The bookshop?” 

“Okay, come on. You know, it’s not really that big of a shop but they do have a lot.”

Making their way inside they were greeted by the sight of Remus going through the shelves and Peter legging a little behind, sometimes looking at a book himself.

“Oh, hey Remus, Peter.” Lily greeted them. “Were are the other two? Making trouble in the back?” she asked with a slight frown.

“Lily, Hermione.” Remus said in greeting. Then he let out a chuckle and said, “No, they’re not here. They’re probably making trouble outside.”

Lily let it go and started to make her way towards the aisles. Hermione also started to look around and though she saw many interesting books she had to be careful with what she bought. She had only a limited amount of money and she still wanted to buy something, even if it was something small, for Lily and the others. 

She only bought one book, something about the history of magical creatures. When they were finished Hermione and Lily made their way towards Honeydukes, parting ways with Remus and Peter.

At Honeydukes Hermione bought quite a large amount of chocolate and a few sugar quills while Lily bought a few liquorice wands and pumpkin pasties. When they were finished there it was already noon. With the snow falling down and going from one place to the other, the two girls decided to go to the Three Broomsticks to get something warm to drink. 

They had been there for a total of fifteen minutes when the door opened and the four marauders walked in. They looked drenched, which probably meant that they had had a snowball fight. Hermione saw that Lily ducked a little lower and looked away from them, probably hoping they wouldn’t see them and just go to a table of their own. However, the boys spotted them with ease and made their way over to the two girls. Hermione let out a small chuckle at this.

The boys didn’t even ask if they could sit with them, just pulling the chairs back and taking a seat, much to the chagrin of Lily. 

“Yeah, take a seat. No need to ask anyway.” Lily said in an annoyed manner.

“Oh, thanks Evans. We’ll do just that.” Sirius replied, a teasing grin on his face. 

Rosmerta came to get their orders and after another five minutes when everyone had gotten their drinks, they started talking. 

“So what did you guys do that you’re soaked?” Hermione asked amused.

“A snowball fight of course. What else?” Sirius replied.

“I don’t know, maybe you jumped into the fountain out of boredom?” Lily answered sarcastically.

“Oh come on, Evans. You know we only do that in summer.” 

The rest had to laugh a little at the bickering between the two. Then Hermione turned to Remus and asked, “Did you find what you were looking for in the book shop?”

“Oh yeah, you?”

“Well, I found this one book I liked but it’s a little frustrating that they don’t have any muggle books, you know.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Yeah, I love books about the wizarding world but sometimes when I’m here I miss the books from home.” Lily chimed in.

“Do you like muggle books so much?” James asked Hermione.

She looked at him and said, “Well yeah, I grew up with them.”

“Wait, are you a muggleborn?” Sirus asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Oh, I didn’t know. It seems like we have another thing in common, Hermione.” Lily told her with a smile.

Hermione saw the way Sirius looked at her and asked, “What?”

“Nothing, just surprised to find out that you’re a muggleborn I guess.”

She knew he didn’t feel any contempt towards muggleborns. She knew it from back in her own time but she couldn’t help but ask, “Is that something bad?”

Sirius looked her straight in the eyes, a serious look on his face when he said, “No, it’s not. I may be a Black, unfortunately, but I do not have anything against muggleborns.”

The tension at the table rose a little and while Hermione and Sirius were looking at each other, the others were watching them with slightly bated breath. Then Hermione gave him a small, happy smile and said, “Good to know.” His face relaxed and he gave her a small nod in return, the tension leaving the table.

From there on they started talking about different things, from the things they had bought to the shops they still planned to visit to their plans for Christmas. 

“So what are you going to do for Christmas?” Lily asked Hermione.

“Oh, I’ll probably stay at Hogwarts. What about you?”

At her answer, everyone turned to look at her. Then James asked, “You’re staying at the castle? You’re not going home?”

“Yeah, probably.” she said, giving a shrug. However, inside she started to feel sad and slightly homesick.

“Why?” he asked.

“No particular reason. I just can’t go home during break this time.” She saw everyone looking at her like they wanted to ask more but hesitated like asking themselves if it was the right thing to do. Wanting to get rid of those looks and of the silence that had settled among them she asked, “So what are your plans?” 

“I’m going home to spend Christmas with my family. Though, there’ll probably be more fighting with my sister than anything else I guess.” Lily replied, the last statement a little softer and a little less happy.

“I’m going to go to James’ house like usual.” Sirius told them with a smile like he couldn’t wait to leave the castle.

“I’m going to spend it with my mom and help out in the shop.” Peter said.

“Oh, I didn’t know your mom had a shop.” Hermione said.

“Yeah, but it’s a small one and not many people know it.” he replied.

“I’m just going to spend Christmas with my parents. Maybe go to James’ house for a few days.” Remus told them. 

“Yeah, come whenever you like. You know my parents, the more, the merrier.” James said with a smile. Then he added, “Peter, if you can, feel free to come too.” Then he turned to Lily and said, “You’re also allowed to come and visit me, Lily-flower.”

Lily rolled her eyes and just said, “No, thanks. I think I’ll pass.”

James didn’t let it show on his face that he was hurt, always keeping his smile in place. However, the marauders and Hermione, from what she was told in the future, knew he was hurt, smile on his face or not. 

From there on they talked some more until the girls started to get up, wanting to go to a few more shops. The boys, especially James, wanted to accompany them but Lily made sure to ignore that statement and almost dragged Hermione out of there before the boys could say or do anything. 

After the afternoon had gone, the girls going from one shop to the other and the boys stocking up on new items from Zonko’s, they made their way back towards the castle. They went to dinner, the girls sitting together and talking about their day in the village, the marauders sitting not that far from them and sometimes making a comment of their own. Mostly both groups talked among themselves, at least the girls did. The boys were more goofing off while talking and doing silly tricks than actually talking.

After dinner they made their way towards the common room. Once in the common room and when everyone had calmed down a little from their funny day in Hogsmeade, James suddenly asked Hermione, “Why can’t you go home?”

Hermione looked at him for a moment, the question being so sudden. Lily and Remus looked at James as if to say that he was being rude and Sirius and Peter looked at Hermione, also wanting to know the answer. 

“My parents won’t be home this break.” she told them.

“Then why don’t you come to my house like Sirius?” 

She gave him a surprised look and said, “Thanks but I think I’ll pass.” 

“Why? Don’t you like our company?” Sirius chimed in, teasing her a little.

“That’s not it.” she said. “It’s just that I still don’t know you that well so it would be a little awkward?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“Of course not. It would be tot –“

Sirius was interrupted by Remus who gave him a look that said he should leave it alone. Seeing this, Hermione gave him a smile in thanks. He just gave her a smile back. After a moment of silence Lily said, “Well, I would invite you but my sister doesn’t really like wizards. I mean, she’s always angry enough with me and I don’t want to put you through that.”

“Don’t worry, just go home. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve spent my Christmas at the castle.”

This resulted in questioning looks on everyone’s faces. Hermione didn’t know why they would look at her like that, had she said something wrong? Then she knew, how could she slip up on that. Trying to clarify, she said, “At Beauxbatons. I sometimes spent my breaks at the castle there because my parents would go on trips.”

The questioning looks stayed on their faces a few moments longer before they seemed to accept the answer. From there they just started talking like normal, not really touching the subject of Christmas anymore. When it was getting late everyone went to their respective rooms.

The girls immediately went to bed. The marauders, however, were having a discussion among themselves.

“What do you think she meant by ‘not the first time I’ve spent my Christmas at the castle’?” Sirius asked them.

“Padfoot, she told us, she meant her breaks at Beauxbatons.” Remus replied.

“But she looked nervous when she said that.” Sirius may be a goofball and an flirting idiot at times but he was also very perceptive. Being raised in the Black family but not agreeing with their views or what he was taught, he learned to keep an eye out for people. What they did, when they did it, how they did it, how they reacted to things, he saw most of those things. And when he got older, it also came in handy that his animagus was a dog. A dog had very good hearing and smell and they could pick up the tiniest signs of nervousness or anxiousness. 

Not getting an answer he also said, “And do you remember the DADA lesson during Halloween? Why was James in her biggest fear? And who was that ginger guy?” Still not getting an answer he asked, “Guys?”

“Maybe that guy only looked like James?” Peter eventually answered.

“How could he only look like him? Then they have to be a carbon copy. I tell you it was James.”

Sirius turned to look at James and asked, “Prongs, have you seen her before? You know, before she came to the castle?” 

James thought for a minute and said, “No, I haven’t.”

Sirius let out a groan at that answer. But before he could say or do anything else James said, “But I saw her before the morning we met her.” At this all three boys sat up in their beds and looked at him.

“Where? How?” 

“The day before we met her at breakfast, she stopped me in one of the corridors. She kept calling the name ‘Harry’ and started talking to me like I was that person. But when I told her my name she said she had mistaken me for someone else and left.”

“Harry?” Remus asked. “Then maybe that’s the boy in her fear that looks like James?”

“But like I said he would have to be a carbon copy. That’s as good as impossible.” 

“Maybe not. She even thought James was Harry when she was talking to him. Maybe they really do look a lot like each other.” Remus said. 

A silence fell over the boys and they decided to leave it at that for now. They went to bed and turned out the light. However, Remus didn’t fall asleep immediately. Instead he kept thinking about what Hermione had said, ‘It’s not like it’s my first Christmas at the castle’. 

In the past few months he had talked with her quite a lot and he had gotten to know her fairly well. She reminded him of Lily and a little bit of himself. So she wasn’t one to make a mistake like that. If she really had meant her breaks at Beauxbatons wouldn’t she have said ‘at _a_ castle’? And if Sirius was right, why was she nervous when she told them that? Was the boy in her worst fear James or this Harry who she had never even spoken a word off before? 

It was all a little much to think about. And why did he even think about it in the first place? It wasn’t that she had given them any reason to distrust her. However, when he thought about it all, there was just something that didn’t seem right about it all. Deciding to leave it alone for now, Remus also fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 10. I get to publish it sooner than expected so that's nice for a change. I hope you enjoy it. If there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

The week before Christmas break went by fast. Everyone – well, almost everyone – was in a festive mood. Especially the marauders.

The entire week students and teachers were caught up in their antics. They would decorate the halls and statues and when the decorations were cleaned up by the teachers, the next day they would be back in place. They sang Christmas songs of which Hermione thought that half of them were made up and they made the statues sing together with them. The thing that caught most students’ attention, however, was the fact that at the time and place you least expected mistletoe would appear above two people. For the people watching it was amusing, for those who were caught by it less so. 

However, not every student that was caught beneath the mistletoe actually kissed someone. One evening in the common room when James was once again trying to be charming to Lily, Sirius dangled a mistletoe between them. Of course, James was thankful to his best friend for this and looked forward to a kiss with his Lily-flower. Lily, however, not so much. She rolled her eyes and just up and left and went to sit at a table with Marlene. 

The marauders didn’t mind so much, they just went on to their next victim. Which happened to be Hermione. She was talking with Remus on the couch when suddenly Sirius’ voice sounded from behind them. 

“Oohh, Moooony,” he said in a singsong voice.

“What is it, Pads?”

“Look up,” he said with a large grin on his face and a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. 

Remus looked up and saw the mistletoe dangling between him and Hermione. His eyes widened a little before he turned to look at Hermione. She was looking at the mistletoe before turning to him. Suddenly, he felt quite embarrassed. 

“You don’t have to, you know,” he said as quickly as he could.

Hermione, however, was used to worse things thanks to spending quite a lot of time with the Weasley twins. So she smiled at him and shrugged. “Rules are rules, no?” 

Remus was a little confused, not expecting the answer. Then she started to lean in closer. In the meantime the situation had caught the attention of a few students in the common room, among them Lily and Marlene. Marlene looked absolutely delighted at the fact that she would see them kiss, Lily didn’t know what she was feeling but she was waiting in anticipation, if she was honest with herself. James and Sirius’ eyes widened and their grins just grew. You might think their faces were about to split in two. Remus, their Moony, was about to be kissed. It wouldn’t be his first one but because of the whole werewolf thing he didn’t do it much, so they were feeling absolutely ecstatic. 

Hermione leant closer and put a hand on Remus’ shoulder. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

The tension that had been building in the room immediately deflated. Sirius and James making noises of disappointment.

“Come on. That’s cheating, Granger,” Sirius said, it almost sounded like a whine.

She turned to look at him and said, “No one said we had to give a kiss on the lips.”

“Spoilsport,” he said with a small pout. At this James and Peter laughed. Sirius had been outsmarted by Hermione, not that it was uncommon or unusual. 

Then Hermione turned back to Remus and said, “I hope you don’t mind. I like you but not in that way.” She said it with a friendly smile and a sparkle in her eyes. 

Remus let out a chuckle which turned into a small laugh. Then he gave her a kiss on the cheek in return and said, “I don’t mind at all.” They just started laughing.

And just like that the week went on. Then it was the Christmas feast the evening before everyone went home. During the feast suddenly and miraculously the hair of all slytherins turned red and green and the fact that they weren’t happy about that was no surprise. Hermione only wondered how the marauders had managed to do it.

Then the feast also passed and everyone went home, which left Hermione on her own at the castle. Well, of course not on her own. There were a few other students but in such a large place it could easily feel as if you were the only one still there.

The first few days passed and nothing special happened. She would read, go to the Great Hall to eat and read some more. Everything that mentioned time travel, which was fairly limited, she would read. 

During one of those days she decided that she would pay another visit to Dumbledore. It had been weeks since she last went to see him and she wanted to see if he had made any process since then. If he had, she wanted to make sure she was kept updated on everything. With that in mind she made her way to his office.

Once in front of the gargoyle, however, she realized she didn’t know the password. She stood there for a few moments thinking when the door suddenly opened and Professor Gray stepped from the stairs into the corridor. 

“Miss Granger,” he said. He was surprised to see her there but didn’t let it show on his face. “Do you need to see Professor Dumbledore?”

“Yes, there is something I want to ask him.”

“Well, if it’s that important I think you’re allowed to go up.” He stepped aside and gestured to the stairs.

“Thank you, Professor Gray.” Then she stepped onto the stairs and they led her to Dumbledore’s office. 

Once at the door, it opened even before she could knock. When she stepped inside she saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, studying one of the many trinkets that was placed upon it. 

“Aahh, Miss Granger, what can I do for you?”

“Professor, I wanted to ask if you had gotten to know something on how I can go home? Or maybe on how I got here? I know I already asked some time ago but maybe now...” she left her sentence unfinished, afraid of the answer. 

“I’m afraid I haven’t much to tell you, except the same thing as last time.” His voice was soft, calm.

She let out a sigh and looked down.

“I know it feels as if you’re here already for a long time but do not forget that it has only been three months since you got here.” She looked up, wanting to say something but Dumbledore just continued. “I can understand that three months is a lot if you’re not in your own timeline. However, I, too, have my limits in what I can do and the time in which I can do it.”

“Yes, of course, I understand and I’m grateful that you even want to help me but –“ she paused for a moment, “But it’s just so hard. Being here and knowing what is going to happen or what is happening. I don’t know anymore.”

“I can only imagine what you’re going through and I will do my best to help you. But as I have told you already, I cannot make promises as to whether I will be able to help.” He looked at her, studying her. 

“Of course, I know,” she said. And it was true, he had told her that he wouldn’t be able to promise her that she could go back to her own timeline. She knew but it didn’t make the situation any easier. 

“If there is anything you want to talk about, anything at all, you’re always welcome.” She had gone to see him a couple times and every time she did he had said this. With this one sentence she knew she was being dismissed, that there was nothing more to talk about. At least, not for the moment. However, just like the very first time she had talked to him she couldn’t say if he also meant something more, deeper, by it. And if he did, would she be able to tell him the things she knew?

“Thank you, Professor.” And with that she left his office, going back to the common room. 

A few more days passed and it was Christmas morning. Waking up, she was surprised to see a small stack of gifts at the end of her bed. Of course, she knew who they were from. 

She made her way to the end of her bed and started opening the presents one by one. From both Remus and Lily she had gotten a book, both mugglebooks to her delight. From James, Sirius and Peter she had gotten some sweets. Now she had new books to read and enough snacks to last her for a couple of weeks. She was a dentist’s daughter after all, of course she would eat sweets in a moderate way. She had done so ever since she was little, her parents always telling her about the sugars the sweets contained. 

They were such simple presents, yet she couldn’t be happier. She was already happy knowing that they had thought about her even though she had been here for only a couple of months. It also made her feel less guilty – or embarrassed? – about her own simple and small gifts that she had sent them. 

She had gotten a quill for both Lily and Remus, though Remus’ present was accompanied by a few chocolate bars. And just as the other three boys had sent her sweets, she had gotten them an assortment of sweets of their own. 

This may not be her timeline nor the friends with who she grew up but as she looked at the presents in front of her she was grateful that she had them as friends in this time. They reminded her of home, at certain times more than she liked to admit. Sometimes this made it extra difficult to be here and sometimes it made it easier. It was like a two-edged sword.

The rest of the day was spent in bed with one of her new books, eating a little bit of the sweets she had gotten, only leaving Gryffindor Tower to go down for dinner. 

The rest of the break was spent as the first few days: reading, going to the Great Hall for meals and more reading. The last few days before the break ended she started reading more at the library instead of in Gryffindor Tower, slowly wanting to get used to the school rhythm again. And apart from getting a dirty look directed her way from Snape at times when she was in the library, those days also passed in a hurry. Before she knew it Gryffindor Tower was once again filled with lots of students and lots of noise. The most prominent cause of the noise being the marauders. 

The night everyone got back, the Gryffindor common room was very loud. Everyone talking about how they had spent their break and asking how other’s break had been. A lot of them were so caught up in their stories and feeling so excited still that Hermione wondered for a moment if they realized they had classes the next day. 

“And the whole break she made these nasty comments.” Lily was talking about her break, especially about how nice company her sister had been. 

“I can’t imagine spending my Christmas break like that,” Hermione told her.

“Well, it’s nothing I hadn’t heard before anyway.” She shrugged as she said it. “And what did you do here?”

“Reading, reading and more reading,” Hermione said. “By the way thank you for the book, I really liked it.”

“You’re welcome. And thanks for the quill.” Lily gave her a happy smile. 

It was a miracle actually that they were sitting there at one of the tables and that the marauders hadn’t barged into the conversation yet. However, she couldn’t say that she minded all that much. It was nice to have a quiet conversation once in a while. 

As it got later more and more students made their way towards their rooms, among them Lily and Hermione. She would have to thank the boys for her presents the next day. 

The next day Hermione was talking to Lily when she saw Remus enter the Great Hall. He made his way over to them, sat down, filled his plate and gave them a “Good morning” just before he started eating. 

“Good morning,” the girls replied simultaneously. It was quiet for a moment before Lily asked, “Where are the others?”

“Still sleeping.”

“Didn’t you try to wake them? They’re gonna be late for class this way,” Hermione told him.

“I tried but they’re difficult to get out of bed so I just gave up.” Then a grin – you could almost say it was a smirk – spread across his face as he said, “It’s my new years’ present for them, a nice way to start the new semester.”

Hermione couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course, how could she forget. He may be a more mature than the others but he was still a marauder. Then she said, “Talking about presents, thank you for the book. I really liked it.”

“No problem. Thanks for the quill.” And after a moment as if he had forgotten something he said, “And the chocolate.”

“You’re welcome.” 

Talking, they made their way towards their first class: Transfiguration. And just like Hermione had thought, the marauders were indeed late. This resulted in a stern lecture from McGonagall and a five point deduction each. Yes, a nice way to start the new semester.

When Transfiguration was over they made their way towards the dungeons for Potions. 

“Seriously Moony, why didn’t you wake us?” James asked.

“I tried but you guys just wouldn’t wake up.” He said it with a shrug of his shoulders. “It was a nice wake-up call though for you guys,” he said with a small grin growing on his face.

“You did not just say that,” Sirius said with an incredulous look on his face.

“Yes, I did. And I have no regrets.” He looked at them seriously for a moment before all four of them just burst out laughing. 

It was when they were waiting for the Professor to let them in that Hermione thanked the remaining three marauders for the sweets she got during Christmas, all of them saying that it was nothing. 

When Professor Slughorn had let them in they were told they would be working on brewing a potion called ‘Draught of Living Death’. Hermione had already learnt how to brew it in her own timeline and though she had had many difficulties then, she thought she would do at least a little better now than she did then. And she was right.

It hadn’t gone so smoothly as she had wanted but she had managed in the end. The only thing that showed that she had had quite a difficult time was her hair which seemed to be five times its original size. 

Of course, Sirius couldn’t help but tease her a little about it, making puns about her hair and curls and whatnot. However, she let him, not really caring what he said because she had just earned five points because her potion had been one of the best, even with the difficulties she had had to finish it correctly. 

The rest of the class, except for a few, also had done very well. Especially, Lily and Snape, though nobody could say they were surprised by that. Those two were known for their skills at brewing potions and Hermione knew just how good Snape was and how much better he would get by the time he would become her Professor. 

The rest of the day passed just like most days, with nothing special happening. Classes passed and meals passed and before anyone knew it the first day of classes had finished and everyone could be found somewhere in the Gryffindor common room. 

“And how was the Christmas party?” Remus asked James and Sirius.

“Apart from the fact that I had to wear those damned dress robes, it was okay. You know, the same as usual.”

“Yeah, a shame you couldn’t make it, Moony,” James told him.

“Well, it was a little difficult to make it,” Remus said, giving the boys a look. The look wasn’t lost on Hermione and instantly she knew he either had just gone through a transformation or was about to go through a transformation when the party had been taking place. 

Then they turned towards the girls and James said, “Maybe you can attend the party next year. My mom likes it when there are a lot people.”

Hermione looked at him for a moment, stunned, not knowing what to say. The other girls, however, didn’t have that problem.

“Sure, why not. I’d like to come,” Marlene replied. From the girls, she was the most outgoing one so she easily would go to some kind of party or get-together when she got the chance. 

“I don’t know. I’m probably going to celebrate with Frank and his family.” Alice gave an apologetic smile as she said it. She was as sweet and polite as ever. 

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass,” was Lily’s answer. An answer that surprised no one anymore by this point. 

Then they turned to look at Hermione, seeing as she hadn’t said anything yet. “Uhm, maybe?” It came out more as question than a statement. “But why are we talking about that anyway? Christmas just passed and it’s still a year until it comes back around.”

“Yeah, but you have to plan those things early,” Sirius said seriously as if it was the most important thing ever and everyone should know this. When he saw the look on her face he couldn’t help himself and started laughing. “Well, doesn’t matter if you don’t know yet. As you said there’s still time enough,” he said with a wide smile on his face.

“You’ll come next year though, right Moony?” James and Sirius had turned back to look at Remus.

“Yeah, probably.”

“And you too, Wormtail?” James said.

“Yeah, how come you weren’t there?” Sirius interjected.

“Mom needed help with the shop, you know. But yeah, I’ll come next year.”

Hermione couldn’t help the quiet uneasiness she felt at that. She knew he was their friend and he had told them that he would spent Christmas with his mother but she also knew what he had done, or what he would do. She couldn’t help but think whether what he had said was the real reason why he hadn’t gone to the party or if he already was starting to get on the wrong path. 

She had read in the Daily Prophet that the attacks from Death Eaters were steadily rising, so she couldn’t help but be slightly suspicious, even though he hadn’t done or said anything wrong yet. At least, not to her. Not yet anyway. However, it wasn’t helping that she didn’t know just when Peter had decided to betray his friends. 

For now she would just let it go, would try to not think about it. If she had any say in it – and that was quite a big ‘if’ – she probably wouldn’t even be here when everything would play out the way it was supposed to. By then she would already be back in her own timeline. Back to where she belonged.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 11, hope you like it. You know the drill: if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.
> 
> Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Slowly, the students settled back into the rhythm of school. Going to classes, doing homework, and in the case of the marauders, playing pranks on almost everyone they laid eyes on. As was known, they would target the slytherins more than others, and the last couple of days it seemed like they were focusing almost all of their attention on Snape. 

It didn’t surprise Hermione in the least that they would target him but it looked like they were playing more pranks on him than usual. She had thought about it for a minute but she couldn’t think of anything that might have happened in the past few days that could explain why they had increased their attacks on him.

Hermione, the girls and the marauders, just like almost all the other students were sitting in the Great Hall having lunch when there was a loud noise echoing through the hall. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around to see what was happening. 

They didn’t have to search long until they saw what was happening. Looking at the slytherin table everyone saw Snape with a vicious glare on his face. While Snape’s hair was usually greasy and hanging lifeless around his face, now his hair had the shape of a huge poofy afro.

The entire hall started laughing, following the marauders’ lead as they had burst out laughing upon seeing the result of their prank. Hermione, too, couldn’t help but laugh, though she felt slightly bad about what Snape had to endure. 

However, the laughter quickly came to a stop as Snape snapped and slammed his hands down on the table. He stood up and left the hall, everyone looking at him, shocked. Until now, he had taken the pranks without so much as giving the marauders a glance, not giving them the satisfaction of reacting to them. However, it seemed like he had reached his limit. 

Everyone went back to what they had been doing, and apart from a few people – mainly the marauders – the laughter stopped.

It was when the sixth year gryffindors were making their way to their first class of that afternoon that Snape walked up to them and confronted them, afro still in place. Some of the students just kept on walking to their classroom and some stayed. Hermione and the girls decided to stay and see what would happen. 

Hermione had heard enough things, both in her own timeline and in this one, to know that it could turn very ugly very fast if Snape and the marauders confronted each other straight on. 

Instead of his usual passive expression, Snape’s face was set in anger as he walked up to them. The marauders just watched him as he made his way towards them, smirks plastered on their faces. 

“Do you think this is funny?” he spat at them.

James pretended to take a good look at him before saying, “Yeah, I personally think it’s hilarious.”

“Yeah, Snivellus, it suits you,” Sirius said before barking out a laugh. 

“Would it still be hilarious if I did this to you?” he asked angrily.

“Oh please, have you seen my hair? Nothing you would do could make it look less good,” Sirius replied cockily. Then he went on, “And Prongs’ bedhead is already bad enough, nothing could make it look worse than it already does.”

“Padfoot, mate,” James said as he looked at Sirius with a slightly incredulous look on his face.

“Sorry, Prongs, just stating the facts.” His smirk widened and the glint in his eyes became stronger as he teased his best friend.

“Narcissistic, vain bastards,” Snape hissed.

“Now, Snivellus, that’s not a very nice thing to say,” James said.

“Oh, as if you are such model students.” 

To Hermione it seemed like he was getting his emotions back under control because, slowly, his passive expression was returning and his voice also became more like how he usual spoke, sounding bored and indifferent. 

“You have a point there, Snivellus,” Sirius said. “Maybe we’re not the perfect model students but at least we can learn a few things from people who _are_.” As he said it he gave a look in the direction Lily and Hermione were standing and then he also looked at Remus standing beside him. “Who can teach you how to behave properly?” he taunted.

“I can behave exceptionally well, thanks for the concern.” Then he looked at Lily and Hermione with a look of disdain on his face. He looked back at the marauders and sneered as he said, “Unlike you childish and brainless idiots, I don’t need anybody’s help when it comes to behaviour. And certainly not the help of a few mudbloods.” 

The marauders turned red in anger and James and Sirius became livid, yelling for the entire corridor to hear. 

“What did you say?!” Both James and Sirius pulled out their wands and aimed them at Snape. 

“I dare you to say it again!” Sirius said, looking enraged. He always was the most impulsive of the group and the easiest to get angry. He would never admit it, even deny it at times when people would tell him, but he was also the one who let his emotions get the better of him.

“Are we deaf now, Black?” Snape taunted them. “I said that I don’t need help from a couple of mudbloods.”

The marauders were glaring at Snape so hard, if looks could kill, Snape would have been buried six feet under, ten times over. 

Sirius was about to say a spell – which one, Hermione didn’t know – but before he could say anything, she stepped in. 

She stepped in front of Sirius and while looking him in the eyes, she said, “Don’t. It’s fine.”

His eyes flashed dangerously and he was breathing hard. “How could it be fine?!” he yelled. “He called Lily… He called you a…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say the word.

She remained calm as she spoke. “I know. He called us mudbloods –” The maraudes cringed as they heard her say that word, “– and it’s fine. He’s right.”

She remained calm, her voice, her face, nothing gave away how she felt about the word. The first time Malfoy had called her that in her own timeline she had been so upset. She had cried. Fortunately, she had had Harry and Ron with her to defend her and, of course, she had had Hagrid who had comforted her. The years after that Malfoy had called her by that name so often that she had started to become immune for it. She had learnt to not let it get to her anymore. Not much anyway.

“He’s not right! Why would you say that?!” He was getting angrier and angrier, the longer they were talking about it. “Get out of my way so I can teach him a lesson.”

She kept standing in front of him and put a hand on his outstretched arm as she said, “Don’t. That’s exactly what he wants.”

They kept looking at each other and slowly, ever so slowly, Sirius lowered his arm.

Lily was staring at how the situation was unfolding in front of her. Hermione wasn’t affected by the offensive word. Hermione had talked Sirius out of harming Snape. _Sirius_ had listened to her and had lowered his wand. Now she could say that she had almost seen it all. However, she thought that might change back when Snape decided to open his mouth again to make another comment.

“Look at that, it seems you were right. You _can_ indeed learn a few things from these mudbloods.”

Sirius wanted to aim his wand at Snape again but he was stopped by Hermione. She had her hand on his arm and shook her head slightly as she gave him a look. 

Then she turned to look at Snape and said, “I may be a mudblood –“ Once again, the marauders and the girls flinched at the term, “– and maybe they can learn a few more things from me. But you could also learn a few more things about behaviour and if not from us mudbloods, then I suggest you look for someone else to teach you.”

He looked at her like she was the most ugly thing he had ever laid eyes on, anger and disdain clearly visible on his face, his passive mask having slipped of his face. 

Then she went to where the girls were standing and gave a jerk with her head. Just before the girls started to walk away from the scene, she said, “We’ll be late for class if we stay here much longer.” When the girls were walking away she turned her head towards the marauders and asked, “Boys, are you coming?”

Still angry, the boys stomped passed Snape and followed the girls to class.

During the afternoon classes it was obvious for everyone who had some working braincells, teachers and students alike, that the marauders were bothered by something. They weren’t as loud as they usually were, didn’t pull pranks, didn’t make any comments. They were quiet, silent, most of the time having a glare on their face.

For those who weren’t there when Snape had confronted the marauders it was difficult to figure out why they were behaving like this. Even Professor McGonagall was stumped for a moment, though she didn’t let it show. 

For those who had been there it was all too easy to know why they were behaving like they were. 

Most of the time when it came to a confrontation between Gryffindor and Slytherin – mostly a confrontation between the marauders and Snape – it was obvious that the four boys would get angry at the comments and insults Snape threw at anyone who was standing near them. However, they would sent a few hexes towards him, make him the target of some pranks and insults himself and they would feel better, having worked off their frustration by doing so. 

Now, they had been stopped by Hermione, and Sirius especially was still feeling livid. He felt like his blood was boiling, like he would snap at the very next person that dared to talk to him. He felt angry, frustrated and irritated and not having had the chance to get rid of it by throwing a few hexes in Snape’s direction, he felt like exploding. 

He was angry with Snape for the insult he had thrown at Lily and Hermione. He was angry with himself because he let Hermione convince him to lower his wand, to step down. And he was angry with Hermione. 

How could she say Snape was right by calling her a… calling her by that term? How could she be so calm about it? Why wasn’t she angry? Why didn’t she want to hurt him for calling her something like that?

He couldn’t understand it and the more he thought about it, the more angry and frustrated he became. 

During dinner they were the same as in class, silent, moody, angry. It wasn’t exactly fun or enjoyable to eat like this but everyone let them be, knowing they would come around sooner or later. And for the students and teachers it also meant a quiet and peaceful meal for a change. 

It was when they were gathered in the common room that Sirius finally decided to voice his thoughts. 

He looked angry and his eyes had a dangerous glint in them as he stared straight ahead of him but when he asked it, his voice was even and maybe even on the cold side. “Why did you say that?”

Everyone turned to look at him, the marauders, Lily, Marlene, Alice and Hermione. All of them a questioning look on their face.

Then he lifted his head, looked straight at Hermione and asked it again. “Why did you say that?”

“Why did I say what?” she asked him, though she had a suspicion what it was about. It was probably about the same thing that had the marauders feeling so unlike themselves all day.

“You said he was right. Why did you say that?” 

It was the second time since she had been in this timeline that she had seen his face so serious, having such a determined look. The only other time was during the DADA class during Halloween. 

She looked at him with a calm, even face when she replied. “Because he was.”

“Dammit!” he yelled as he jumped to his feet from where he had been sitting on the couch near the fireplace. Marlene and Alice jumped up at his outburst, Alice looking very worried and startled. Lily looked down, not knowing what to do in this situation. She could understand why he was angry and just like him, she had it a little difficult to understand why Hermione was so calm about all of this. However, she had seldom seen him so angry and she didn’t know how to handle it. Hermione, too, had jumped a little at his outburst but apart from that nothing showed that she had been surprised.

“Padfoot,” Remus said, trying to calm his friend down.

“No, Moony! Aren’t you angry about all of this?”

“Of course I am!” he said as his voice rose. Then he let out a breath and his voice became that usual soothing tone as he said, “But there’s not much we can do about it.”

“We could’ve hexed him until he had to go to the infirmary!” he growled out.

“That’s exactly what he wanted and then you would’ve been in serious trouble,” Hermione told them. 

He looked back at her and said, “I wouldn’t have cared! He would’ve deserved it! And even if I got punished it would’ve have been worth it!” Once again, his emotions were getting the better of him. “And why are you even so calm about it all, like it doesn’t affect you?! Why didn’t you teach him a lesson?!”

“That’s not how I fix problems. I think about things logically to solve problems. And besides, I’m used to being called a mudblood.” She said it like it was nothing important, like they were talking about something trivial like the weather. 

Hearing that statement, hearing that offensive word, the girls cringed and the boys’ anger flared. 

Sirius was breathing long and hard through his nose, he fists clenching at his sides as he gritted out, “What do you mean ‘you’re used to it’?”

“Just like I said, I’m used to it. It’s not important.”

“Like hell it isn’t! It’s an insult, it’s the lowest of the low to call someone by that name, so how can you say that it’s not important!” He was fuming now.

James cut between the two and asked, “Hermione, who called you that?”

“Just Malf –” She cut herself off before she could give anything away and instead said, “Just some people back at Beauxbatons.”

Sirius let out a vicious growl and everyone went silent. The silence stretched for a few moments before Hermione decided to break it. 

“Look, I know you’re angry but you need to let it go.” He looked at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He opened his mouth to retaliate but before he could Hermione cut him off. “I was hurt the first time I was being called that but over the years I learnt to ignore it, to not let it get to me. If I accepted that I was a mudblood then it couldn’t hurt me anymore when they would call me by that name. It’s not that it doesn’t affect me, I just learnt to live with it. I know that I’m more than what they make me out to be and if I know that then that’s enough. So please, let it go.” Her voice had something soft in it at the end of her statement and she looked more vulnerable than all of them had ever seen her since she had arrived there.

Hearing this, learning something more about her – even if it was so little – and hearing the softness that came into her voice at the end of her explanation, seeing the look on her face, Sirius felt a part of his anger dissipate. Not all of it, certainly not all of it, he felt like he would be angry for a few more days with how his blood had been boiling for the entire day. But a part of that anger had definitely left him at that moment. 

He let out a deep breath and went back to his seat on the couch, a little of the tension leaving the room. 

She felt drained. The situation with Snape, the marauders’ mood throughout the day and now this discussion, it had worn her out. 

“I’m going to bed,” she said as she stood up from where she was sitting on one of the loveseat. She walked towards the stairs and just before ascending them she turned to look at the four boys. “Thank you, for defending us, even though I kind of stopped you guys from doing anything. It means a lot to me, so thank you.” As she said the last sentence she looked straight into Sirius’ eyes. Then she said goodnight and made her way towards her room. The rest staying in the common room, looking after her as she left.

It was silent for a moment, the girls processing all what had just happened and the boys mostly just staring at the stairs a little shocked. They all had gotten to know something new about Hermione. It was something small and it wasn’t a good or positive thing but they had learnt something more about her and that wasn’t nothing. 

In all the months she had been here she had befriended them but apart from the general things they knew about her like her birthday, what she liked and disliked, the fact that she was muggleborn, they didn’t know much. For Hermione to tell them something like this probably meant that she was slowly starting to open more, that she was starting to accept them as her friends. 

After some more talking, though it was just small talk, the others also decided to go to bed. 

And it was when everyone was lying in their beds that one of the marauders was thinking about one small thing that had happened during the discussion. 

While the girls just fell asleep, the boys – or at least two of them – had their minds elsewhere. Sirius was thinking about Hermione. About what she had told them and how she had thanked them. He didn’t know what it was but he felt something in his chest. It was something small. It was so small it was hardly noticeable. Yet he felt it. It made his heart beat just a tad bit faster. It reminded him a little of how he had felt just before playing his first quidditch match yet it was slightly different. 

And while Sirius was thinking about this strange feeling, Remus was thinking about the small slip up Hermione made while she was arguing with Sirius. He thought about how she had cut herself of in the midst of her sentence. ‘Just Malf’, what was she about to say? A name? If so, why would she stop midway? Didn’t she want them to know who it was? Was it someone they knew? Whose name started with ‘Malf’? 

It was the second time in a few weeks that he had all these thoughts running through his head. It was the second time she had said something, or more like hadn’t said in this case, that made him wonder if she was hiding something from them. And just like last time he was wondering why he thought about these things. She was friendly, kind, hadn’t done anything to be considered ‘suspicious’, yet he couldn’t help it. 

He thought about it for a few moments longer, trying to think of a name that started with ‘Malf’. When he couldn’t think of anything right away, however, he decided to let it be for the moment, just like last time. He tried to not think about it anymore and turned on his side, falling asleep only minutes later.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 12. It's posted a little later than expected but here it is. You know the drill: if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), let me know. Please read and review.
> 
> Thanks to my beta for proofreading.

A couple of weeks had passed and no one had mentioned the discussion in the common room ever since. Hermione thought it was for the best. Just let it be and move on from the matter. 

One of the reasons why no one had brought up the topic again was that there was a quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw the upcoming weekend. Another reason was that Valentine’s day was also only a couple of weeks away. So it came as no surprise that everyone was excited about the two events and just pushed the whole discussion out of their minds.

It was Wednesday evening, just after dinner and Hermione was reading in front of the fire in the common room. There was a fair amount of noise – seeing as a lot of first, second and third years were still making banners and drawings for the upcoming match – but she didn’t mind and just blocked it out. It was still a lot quieter than when the marauders were in the room. 

Suddenly she felt someone sitting down next to her and looked up. It was Remus. 

“Mind if I keep you company?” he asked, his own book in hand.

“Go ahead.” Then she asked, “Where are the others? I haven’t seen them since dinner.”

“They’re still at the quidditch pitch. James wants to get as much training in as they can and Peter and I usually sit in the stands during training. However, I was getting too cold so I thought better of it and came inside. Figured I’d be more comfortable in front of the fire instead of out in the cold.”

She nodded and with half a grin said, “And that’s why they call you the clever one.”

He gave a grin of his own, “Why, thank you.”

The conversation stopped and, getting comfortable, both focused on their story again. Hermione appreciated the situation. In her own time not many people her age liked to read, let alone read together in silence. And yes, she had met Remus in her time and knew he liked to read, however, there was the age difference and everyone was so focused on Voldemort and avoiding one disaster after another that they never had the chance to really read in calm and comfortable silence as they were doing now. She enjoyed it, it was a nice change.

While reading they would change positions to get comfortable, yet they didn’t disturb each other. And ultimately they ended up with Remus in one corner of the sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him and Hermione leaning against his side with her knees pulled up and feet in the other corner of the sofa. They sat like that, comfortable enough so they didn’t change positions again. And they were still sitting like that when the Gryffindor team, followed by Peter, entered the common room. 

In less than a second Peter had thrown himself on the ground in front of the fire, trying to warm himself up after sitting in the cold for hours. Seeing this she looked up to look at the rest of the team. Looking at them, it was clear that they too were cold, despite the fact that they had been busy for a few hours unlike Peter who had just been sitting in the stands. 

Seeing her sitting there in front of the fire, Sirius said, “Mioneee, I’m cold, warm me up.” It almost sounded a little like a whine. And as he said it he made his way towards her, hands outstretched.

She saw him coming and went to retort but before she could say anything he had his hands on her cheeks. She yelped at the cold and slapped his hands away. Of course, this resulted in laughter from everyone who was still in the common room. 

Sirius expected a lecture or something for doing this. What he didn’t expect for her to change into some kind of worried mother. 

“You’re freezing! Did you guys really train from dinner ‘till now in this weather? Are you out of your minds?!” she said, looking at them. “Go upstairs, shower and change in something warm. Then come back down and sit in front of the fire before you freeze to death.” 

It was silent for a moment, everyone looking at her. Then, slowly – as if remembering or registering what she just said – they went to their rooms in order to change into something warm and dry.

And while the boys were upstairs changing, she settled herself back against Remus.

Remus let out a chuckle and said, “Calm there, mom.”

She turned to look at him and saw the grin he was wearing. Then she turned back and said, “Someone has to take on the role or else you guys will end up hurt or dead by doing something stupid.” There was a small pause. “Well, maybe not you, but those three would,” she said, indicating to the stairs where the other three marauders had vanished. 

“Yeah, probably,” he admitted with a grin. 

They went back to their reading until the other marauders entered the common room. And a little to Hermione’s surprise – surprise that she didn’t have to say it a second time – the three immediately took a seat around the fire, Peter muttering about how nice and warm the fire was. 

While taking their seats in front of the fire, Sirius said, “You guys look cosy.”

“Probably a lot cosier _and_ warmer than you guys were outside,” Remus told them with a smirk.

“Seriously, who stays out for so long in this weather?” Hermione asked them.

“Well, that’s all on James,” Sirius said, sending a pointed look James’ way.

“Don’t look at me like that. Next match is against Ravenclaw and though they don’t play dirty like Slytherin, they’re a strong opponent. I just want to get as much training in as possible.” James huffed a little.

“That doesn’t mean that people should get frostbite from being outside for too long, though,” Peter said.

“Well, no one said you had be there, did they?” 

Peter gave a little huff before he said, “I like seeing you guys train though.”

“Then don’t come complaining afterwards.”

Hermione watched them go back and forth before she said, “Honestly, with the way you train your team in the worst of circumstances, you’re almost as bad as Oliver Wood.” 

“Oliver Wood?” 

“He was one of the quidditch captains at Beauxbatons. Forced his team to train even when a small hurricane was raging outside,” she explained. 

The last couple of weeks, when it came to smaller things, it became easier for her to lie. She didn’t know how she felt about that. On the one hand she had less of a chance of revealing something important about the future. On the other hand it meant that she had been here for so long already and had adapted in such a way that lying had become like a second nature to her. And that last bit, she didn’t like it. Not at all. 

“Well, that may be so but there was no hurricane today, was there?” James said as some kind of lame retort, not knowing what else to say.

Sirius just burst out laughing. “Mate, seriously?” he asked between laughs. 

“Oh, shut up, Pads.”

After some bantering Sirius turned to look at Remus and said, “And what about you, you traitor?”

“What about me?”

“How dare you leave us in the cold while you sit cosily in front of the fire, _warming_ yourself up?” he asked in mock offense.

“Oh that,“ he said as if he remembered. “That’s because I’m the clever one.” A grin making itself known on his face.

“And who told you that?”

“Hermione.”

All four turned to look at her. She shrugged as she said, “Well, it’s true.”

“Well, there you have it,” Remus said with a smirk on his face.

All three marauders reacted offended and said things like “You’re calling us dumb?!” or “How can he be smarter than us?!” or “How dare you say that?!” They were very dramatic about it.

She took it in stride and waited until they were finished for her to elaborate. “Oh, hush you. I never said you were dumb. I only said that out of you four Remus probably is the cleverest.”

And before they could retaliate, she stood and said, “It’s getting late, I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

A chorus of ‘goodnights’ was sent her way as she made her way upstairs.

James also made his team train until late in the evening the next day. This time, however, Peter was clever enough to come inside when he got too cold. 

On Friday it was just like any other day of the week. When they entered the common room in the evening, however, it was Lily who made a comment about it instead of Hermione. 

“Where you training ‘till this late again?” she asked.

“No, Evans, we’re cold, soaked in sweat and in our training gear because we picnicked outside and talked about flowers,” Sirius replied sarcastically. 

“Pads,” Remus said in warning.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” It seemed that training such long hours in the cold was finally having an effect on his good mood. 

“Yes, we were training,” James said, the tiredness – or maybe exasperation – seeping a little in his voice.

“You know the game is tomorrow, right? It’s important to rest so you have enough energy for the game. You know that, right?”

“I know, that’s why we came in a little earlier. Well, that and Sirius’ awful mood,” he said, pointing in Sirius’ direction. 

Sirius just huffed and made his way up the stairs, more than happy to go take a shower and change in some warmer clothes. 

“Why is he in such a bad mood?” Remus asked.

“Who wouldn’t be in such a mood after training such long days in the cold?” Hermione replied with a question of her own. 

“It’s not the cold. Normally, he wouldn’t act like this because he’s cold. It wouldn’t bother him. So, what happened?” Remus directed the question to James.

“Regulus. He was sitting in the stands.”

Peter and Remus gave looks as if asking what happened. 

“He didn’t say or do anything as far as I know.” Then he gave a sigh. “But you know how Sirius is, just seeing him sets him off. It’s almost as bad as when he sees Snivellus.”

“But what was Regulus doing in the stands?”

“I don’t know and, honestly, I don’t care. I just know it set Sirius off and I just hope he doesn’t let it affect the game tomorrow.”

“Sorry but have you met Sirius?” Lily asked them. “He would do anything to win. He wouldn’t be so dumb to let this affect his game.”

The marauders shared a look and Hermione had her lip between her teeth, knowing that Sirius’ actions could be influenced by his anger quite easily. At least in the future.

Seeing this, Lily was a little less certain of what she had just said. 

They dropped the subject as James also went to their room to change in something more comfortable and warm. 

After some time James came back down stairs. Sirius, however, chose to stay in their room, fuming in anger. 

But apparently, whatever he had or hadn’t done in his room the night before, it had helped because when Hermione saw him walking into the Great Hall with the other marauders and taking a seat, he seemed back to his usual happy self.

Yet she still asked, “Everything okay?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” he asked her.

So, he was going to act like nothing happened. Okay, she got the hint and would play his game. Even if it was only for now. 

“Ready for the game?” came Marlene’s voice from next to her.

“Of course we are. Ravenclaw doesn’t stand a chance,” Sirius boasted.

“So sure, are we?” she said while lifting a brow.

“Of course, James didn’t keep us at the field for days on end just to lose.”

“You’ll come and watch, right?” James asked the girls. Though, everyone knew he especially wanted Lily to be there.

“We’ll be there,” Marlene replied for the girls.

“Everyone?” Sirius asked with a raised brow as he turned to look at Hermione.

When she had just arrived in this time she had avoided making contact with anyone or participate in certain events as much as possible, not wanting to get attached and hoping she would be back in her own time as soon as soon as possible. So, as a consequence she also avoided the quidditch games.

Another reason she hadn’t been to previous games was that, to her, it felt just too weird seeing a Gryffindor quidditch team with totally different players. Especially when it came to the position of seeker, which Harry had had ever since first year. But now, seeing that after months she was still here, she could at least do and act like the other students. And she could just try to push the fact that Harry wasn’t the seeker to the back of her mind.

“Yes,” she said. “Everyone.”

He gave her a grin and said, “Good.” Then he went back to eating. 

The Great Hall was bustling with excitement and contained energy. And sooner than expected people were leaving, going to get ready and making their way down to the stands. The earlier you got there, the better the places you got. 

When the girls were trying to find a seat, just a few moments before the game was supposed to start, they were waved over by Remus and Peter who had saved them some seats. 

The two teams entered the pitch and the captains shook hands. Then, the game began. 

It was a little strange attending a quidditch match of the Gryffindor team while Harry wasn’t on the team. But once the game was on its way she managed to ignore that fact. And when she had managed to push that detail to the back of her mind she was just as invested in the game as she was when she was supporting the Gryffindor team in her own timeline. 

She was screaming her lungs out in encouragement and was cheering and clapping every time they scored a point and clenching her fists and gritting her teeth every time Ravenclaw scored one. People wore make-up and flags and banners were swung around. And she could easily understand why. 

James was a chaser and the way he was riding his broom, he was flying around like he belonged in the sky. It reminded her of Harry and it wasn’t difficult to know where Harry had gotten his talent. And yes, she had seen the gold plaque with James’ name in the trophy room during her first year but now she saw with her own eyes just why he had gotten – and deserved – it.

Sirius was a beater and an amazing one at that. He always hit his mark, never missed – even though they had been afraid of that the previous night – and would make a show out of it, knowing he was just that good. Well, he never had been one to be modest about something. 

The commentary – though not the entertaining, funny and slightly biased comments of Lee Jordan, nor the calm, strange or airy comments of Luna – was good and normal for a change.

James had been right, Ravenclaw was a tough opponent. So, when Gryffindor won the students in the stands went wild. Gryffindors were cheering and clapping, hufflepuffs supporting Gryffindor were doing the same, most ravenclaws felt a little dejected and the slytherins were looking at the Gryffindor team in disdain. 

The party that followed that evening in the Gryffindor common room was a scene Hermione was very familiar with, seeing that the Weasley twins liked to organise parties after each win. There was food, drinks – probably prepared and brought by house elves, which she didn’t like much but decided to overlook just this once – and music. 

The first and second years had already gone to bed yet the rest of them were still celebrating. 

Hermione and Lily were talking at the side of the room furthest from all the commotion that was still going on. Suddenly, Hermione felt arms wrap around her shoulders and a weight settle against her back. When she looked up, she saw Sirius leaning almost his full weight on her.

“Say, Mione, what did you think of the game? I told you we would win,” he said with a wide, happy smile on his face.

“That you did,” she said in an amused tone, giving him a smile of her own.

There was a small pause before he asked, “Well.” He almost looked expectant to her. 

“It was good.”

“Good? Just good? Come on, Mione, don’t pretend that you didn’t like it. I saw you guys yelling and jumping in the stands,” he said, a smirk forming. And there was the smug Sirius again everyone loved and hated.

“Okay, yes, it was a very good game,” she admitted.

“Where is Potter?” Lily asked suddenly.

“What? Do you miss his company? Or have you finally realized your feelings for him?” he teased.

“Who has realized their feelings for who?” came James’ voice from beside them.

If you speak of the devil. 

“Evans, for you.” 

James seemed to start glowing for a second before Lily said, “No, I didn’t. I just wanted to know where he was so I could keep avoiding the commotion.”

Meanwhile Sirius was still leaning against Hermione. Then she pushed him off of her and said, “You look so light when you’re flying but you’re quite heavy, so can you carry your own weight?”

He mock-gasped and asked, “Are you calling me fat?!”

“If I say no will you be happy and stop leaning against me?” 

“Maybe.”

“Then no, you’re not fat.” 

“Thanks but I already knew that.” And not a second later he was once again putting his weight on her. She let out a small sigh. She should’ve known. She had seen that glimmer in his eyes, the one that says he is up to no good. Plus, it was almost frightening how much he looked like the Weasley twins when it came to behaviour. And knowing the twins, she was sure they would’ve done the same thing, only with the both of them. So, why she had thought it would work, she wasn’t sure. 

Well, it was not that she specifically minded. Having known the Weasley family for six years, she was used to quite a lot of things – especially when it came to the twins, Ginny and Ron.

“Don’t you guys have to go back to your flock of admirers?” Lily asked, wanting to go back to her talk with Hermione.

“What? Jealous that you don’t have a flock of admirers, Evans?” Sirius asked. 

“Why would I be jealous? I don’t need that. I only asked because it seems like the girls are watching you like hawks. You know it’s Valentine’s day next week, right? They all seem ready to strike, especially after today’s game.”

Hermione looked behind them and indeed, there seemed a lot of girls watching the two star quidditch players of that day. 

“Don’t worry about that. I don’t want anyone else but you as my valentine, Lily-flower,” James said in what was a quite normal tone for once. Not the pompous or flirty or whatever tone he usually used when he talked to Lily.

“Then I’m sorry to say that you probably won’t have a valentine that day,” Lily answered.

“What? How? Has someone asked you already?” 

“No, I just don’t want to be your valentine.” It was said bluntly and a silence followed the statement.

Hermione decided to break it and turned to her side to look at Sirius and asked, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Who’s going to be your valentine?”

“Oh, interested, Mione?” he asked teasingly while raising an eyebrow.

“No, just saying you have options enough,” she said as she pointed to the group of girls. 

“We’ll see, there is still time enough.” He shrugged as he said it, seemingly not really interested in all of it. This surprised her a bit, seeing as both the Remus and Sirius of her timeline had said that Sirius had been quite the ladies-man when he was younger.

They stayed away from the subject after that, not knowing what else they could say about it, and went back to celebrating their win. The party went on until McGonagall finally put a stop to it, it was already past midnight then.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!!! I know I've been away for a long time and I'm sorry. Also I have BAD NEWS: unfortunately, I'm going to put this story ON HOLD. The reasons being that I have writer's block (I literally have no inspiration for anything, for not one of my stories. This chapter literally took me MONTHS of writing and rewriting), I had a few rough months this summer and I changed colleges (so I need to get the hang of things all over again). I'm very very sorry about this but I at least wanted you guys to have this one chapter before I disappear again for an undetermined amount of time. I know it's been a very long time since my last update and I don't know when I will post again, but I hope you can at least enjoy this chapter nonetheless. This chapter is not proofread so if there are any mistakes (spelling/grammar), just let me know. Please read and review. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read this story and waited (and kept waiting) for an update. And thank you for all the support!

One thing was certain and that was that Hermione couldn’t be happier about the fact that Valentine’s day was over. The week leading up to it and the day itself had been so exhausting. 

It all started the day after the quidditch game. The marauders were already very popular but after their win their popularity rose even more if it was possible. Girls approached them with cards, chocolates, confessions, and the marauders always declined. Not that it stopped the girls from trying again and again. 

James didn’t accept any of them because, as said, he had his eyes set on Lily, even though she declined without batting an eye every time he asked her to be his valentine. Remus declined because there was a full moon that week and he was feeling unwell. Not that he told this to anyone but Hermione knew. Peter declined the few girls who asked him out, though Hermione wasn’t really sure why. And even Sirius was declining one invitation after the other. This was also a riddle to her, seeing as he was known to be a playboy.

One of the scenarios where the marauders were asked out and declined happened during breakfast on Tuesday.

_The girls were chatting among themselves, about Alice and her date with Frank, about what they were gonna do on valentine’s day, whether they were gonna be asked out by someone they liked or just about class. That was at least until the marauders walked into the great hall and took a seat next to them._

_The first thing that came out of James’ mouth was, “Lily-flower, be my valentine?”_

_“No,” Lily replied automatically. She didn’t even stop in her conversation with Marlene and Alice._

_“You okay, Remus? You look a little pale,” Hermione asked him, ignoring James and Lily’s small, almost non-existing conversation. She became used to that a long time ago._

_“Yeah, just feeling a little off,” he replied and gave her something she thought was supposed to be a smile._

_“Well, if you need anything or you want some help with anything, just tell me.”_

_They went back to eating and the conversations happening around them. However, only a few minutes later Marlene tapped Hermione’s shoulder and pointed to her left. There was a small group of girls coming their way._

_The boys seeing this started grumbling, saying that it was too early in the morning to deal with such things and that they couldn’t even eat in peace. This, of course, made the four gryffindor girls laugh. Apparently, popularity came with a price._

_The girls blushed and smiled, gave the boy they were interested in something as they asked them out just for each one of them to get rejected. The last girl asked Sirius to be her valentine and just like usual the question was answered with a ‘no, thanks’. However, the girl, unlike the others, didn’t leave it at that._

_“Come on, Sirius, we’re gonna have so much fun when we go to Hogsmeade together.”_

_“But I’m not going to Hogsmeade with you.”_

_“But why not?”_

_“Because I don’t want to.”_

_“Come on, we both know that can’t be it. I mean I would understand if you have a date already but declining me without a reason is just not okay.”_

_“The reason is that I’m not interested in you, which is reason enough.” And before she could say anything else or start a fuss, he added, “And I already have a date.”_

_At this, everyone in their group, both guys and girls, stared at him. Since when did he have a date? And who was it?_

_Suddenly he draped his arm over Hermione’s shoulder and said, “Hermione’s my date for valentine’s day.”_

_It took a second to sink in what he had just said before she asked, “I’m your what now?”_

_The girls were snickering and the boys were trying their best to hold their laughter, not that they were doing a good job._

_“Oh, come on, Hermione, don’t act so surprised.” He leaned in and whispered “Help me out here, okay?”_

_She didn’t give him an answer and instead turned towards the girl. Sirius thought she would play along but, unfortunately, he was mistaken._

_“I’m sorry, I think he hit his head somewhere because I have no idea what he’s talking about,” she told the girl as she shrugged off Sirius’ arm of her shoulder._

_The girls’ chuckles became louder and the guys just burst out laughing. Then she stood up and said, “Well, transfiguration is about to start so I’m off.” She walked away, the girls getting up after her, their laughter only getting louder the longer it went on. And if Hermione had looked back, she would’ve seen the incredulous and shocked look on Sirius’ face._

_Later after transfiguration on their way to History of Magic, Sirius said, “What the hell, Hermione! I thought you’d help me out there and you just left me there.” Only mentioning it brought back a round of laughter._

_“Well, it was you’re problem to begin with. Plus, I don’t like to be used as a substitute date.”_

_“But I thought that you’d said that if we wanted help with anything we should just tell, right?”_

_“That was specifically for Remus,” here he looked a little surprised, “and you only asked after you were already putting up a performance.” She gave him a little smirk at that before entering the classroom and taking her seat next to Lily._

Then there was Remus’ transformation. It happened Thursday night and the next day he looked worse for wear. He was pale, looked exhausted and was just a little less his normal happy and easy-going self. During that day she repeatedly asked him if he was fine and if she could do something but he always just waved her of, saying he was fine if only feeling a little under the weather. She knew better, of course. 

And then it was Saturday, or Valentine’s day. Hermione and Lily had decided they would spend the day together in Hogsmeade, seeing that Alice and Marlene had dates and they did not. Not that they minded, of course, they just didn’t really like the whole overly romantic idea of Valentine’s day. And to their surprise, none of the boys had dates either, also deciding to spend the day together like it was a normal Hogsmeade trip. 

The girls spent their day looking through the shops, buying things they liked and stocking up on snacks and of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without drinking a sweet butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. 

To their surprise, they only met the guys in one or two shops. They left them alone, even in the Three Broomsticks, where they normally would barge in and sit with them at the table, they didn’t do so this time. On the contrary, the four marauders entered the café some five minutes before the girls had finished their drinks and decided to return back to the castle, having had enough of the cold weather for the day. 

You could say that Valentine’s day wasn’t so exhausting, but the same could not be said about that same evening when everyone was gathered around the fire in the Gryffindor common room, telling about their day – how their dates had been, the gifts, the shopping – everything really. 

_The guys were looking at what they had bought today – the refill of their sweets and snacks, new products from Zonko’s – while the girls were listening to Alice recounting how her date had been with Frank. He had surprised her with a bracelet – which she had put on and was now proudly showing off – then he had taken her to Madam Puddifoot’s and finally they had wandered around the little village._

_When the girls started snacking on a few of the sweets they had bought Hermione was reminded of the fact that she had bought chocolate. And not all chocolate was for her. she went to her room to grab the small bag containing the sugary treat and went back down stairs._

_“Here, Remus,” she said as she gave him the bag and retook her seat again next to Lily on the sofa. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question before looking inside the bag, seeing several bars of chocolate._

_“Uhm, Hermione what is this?”_

_“Remus, I thought you were the clever one,” she said a little teasingly before she went on, “It’s chocolate, obviously.”_

_“I know, I can see that. what I meant was: why give it to me?”_

_“You love chocolate, right? So today while stocking up for myself I bought some extra for you.”_

_“Why?” he asked a little sceptically._

_“Because you haven’t been feeling well these past few days.” And before he could say anything in response she went on, “And don’t you dare say you’re fine, we both know you weren’t feeling well. And seeing that you feel better when you eat some chocolate I decided to buy some, so just accept it, eat it and feel better.”_

_He looked at her for a moment before a small smile crept onto his face. “Thank you.”_

_“You’re welcome.” She gave him a small smile in return that slowly turned into a little smirk as if to say ‘I know everything’. Little did he know that she really did know everything._

_And just when she was about to return her attention back to the girls, Sirius spoke. “Why does he get chocolate and we don’t?”_

_“Because he needs it,” she said as if to dismiss the matter. Sirius, however, wasn’t planning on backing down so easily._

_“Just because we don’t need it doesn’t mean you couldn’t get us a little chocolate.”_

_“Sirius –” she started but said man cut her off._

_“Or is there something more going on? Do you like him?” He said it teasingly but there was something in his eyes that she couldn’t place. It was like there was no sign of teasing in his eyes whatsoever, the teasing smirk on his face not reaching those storming orbs of his._

_The matter of someone maybe having a crush was all that was needed to get the attention of the girls to focus on them – gossip and someone’s love life was always so very interesting._

_“What? Why would you ask that?” she asked incredulously._

_He shrugged, “Just voicing the conclusion I came to based on several observations.”_

_“And what so-called observations did you see?” she asked, an eyebrow raised in some sort of combination of a question and a challenge._

_“Oh, that. You always ask how he’s doing, you kissed him under the mistletoe and now you buy him chocolate.” His smirk widened, certain he had her cornered._

_“First, I ask how he’s doing because it was obvious he wasn’t feeling well. Second, I kissed him on the cheek. And third, he feels better after eating chocolate so of course I bought him some.”_

_“And what about the fact that you told him that if he ever needed anything he should just ask you?”_

_“Because I would help him if he asked for my help. That’s what friends are for.”_

_“But when I asked you to help me, you left me hanging there.” That last statement wasn’t said in a teasing tone anymore. It almost sounded a little bitter, hurt._

_She blinked before answering, “I already told you that I don’t like to be used as a substitute.” She let out a small sigh._

_“But who said –” He cut himself off. He cleared his throat, not wanting to start raising his voice like he was beginning to do. He was losing his composure and almost had said something that he hadn’t meant to say aloud._

_“Who said what?” she asked, wanting to know what he was trying to say._

_“Nothing.”_

_“Sirius, what –”_

_“Just leave it.” He said it in a steady voice, soft and almost defeated. Then he stood up and went to his room._

_They watched him leave before Hermione turned back to the remaining three marauders, asking, “Do you know what he was trying to say?”_

_They just shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads. However, it didn’t escape Hermione that they had given each other a certain look. The same look she often gave to Harry or Ron when they were being secretive. She knew that look probably better than anyone else._

And now, here she was. It was Sunday morning and she was still lying in bed – it was still too early to get up – replaying the events of the previous day – well, evening. She still didn’t know what he had wanted to say and she didn’t like not knowing. But she also knew that this wasn’t something that she could just look up in a few books at the library. So, heaving a sigh she accepted the fact that he would tell her when he was ready – at least, she hoped he would. 

Then again, she was keeping her fair share of secrets too. And she didn’t tell anyone either.


End file.
